Making Ice Cream at home could not be simpler! You only need 4 everyday ingredients and no special equipment. The flavouring is only limited by your imagination!
Whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk make your ice cream base. At a minimum you would want to add a bit of vanilla extract if not using any other flavours.
If you choose to add flavouring you don't need the vanilla. You can use any commercial syrup you like - chocolate, caramel, dulce de leche. Bonus- I have included instructions on how to turn that sweetened condensed milk you are using anyway in to Home Made Caramel Sauce!
For Home Made Caramel Sauce - you can literally make in your sleep in your slow cooker- you just have to start the day before you want to use it. Or you can make it well ahead and store it in the can itself.
If you want to get fancier you can up the ingredients list to add nuts or cookie chunks but that is totally optional.
Peanut butter incorporates well. How about halving the sweetened condensed milk and flavour one half with peanut butter and the other with chocolate?
You could use cocoa instead of chocolate syrup if you like.
Or you can go the extract route. A little extract goes a long way so start with a ½ tsp, mix in well and test for taste. Adjust bit by bit as necessary.
Now - think about the range of cookies you could add! You want a fairly sturdy cookie - think Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Oreo. If the cookie is too airy or chopped too finely it will just get absorbed by the cream. You are going for a noticeable bit of cookie, and it which will have softened considerably from being in the ice cream.
And we haven't even got to the possibility of adding nuts chopped up. Pecan nuts with caramel flavouring anyone? Butterscotch and walnuts? Lemon and almonds?
And what about a chopped up candy bar? or Skor pieces? Crushed Candy Cane?
Chef's Tips
- While the flavour combinations are pretty much limitless you don't want your final ice cream to be too 'busy'. Choose a flavour component for the sweetened condensed milk and then consider adding cookies or nuts, or chocolate bar chunks. You may choose not to add cookies or nuts etc.
- You may make some interesting flavour combinations by dividing the sweetened condensed milk in half and flavour each half differently. Chocolate/Peanut Butter, Banana/Coconut or Chocolate/Mint. You get the idea...
- Avoid watery flavourings (like fruit juice). The more water the denser the ice cream will be and risks those unpleasant crystals. Think about the difference in texture of ice cream and an ice cube. The more water added the more the ice cream will lean toward the ice cube texture.
- You want to be careful not to overmix the whipped cream and deflate it. The more air that escapes the whipped cream the denser and harder your finished ice cream will be.
- Always add your flavouring to the sweetened condense milk so you can incorporate it evenly (and avoid overmixing the whipped cream.)
- In the final mixing add the flavouring in one spot all at once. If you are adding cookies or nuts etc. add them on top of the flavouring before stirring. Then stir gently distribute the flavour and additions throughout. You are looking for swirls of the flavoured sweetened condensed milk - not a uniform fully incorporated colour.
- If you are using a sweet syrup or sweet peanut butter reduce the sweetened condensed milk by about a ¼ cup to avoid an overly sweet final product.
- Flavourings may have different strengths so start with a small amount, incorporate evenly and then test for flavour. Add more to taste.
Having provided all those tips above - it really is easy. Just don't over beat or overmix the whipped cream. Add the flavour to the sweetened condensed milk and stir gently to swirl the flavoured milk. You don't want a uniform mixture/colour for your final ice cream.
This is so easy and so delicious ... I may never buy ice cream again. I made the Dulce de Leche version using the sweetened condensed milk already called for in the recipe. I added Salted Caramel Cookie chunks, but in the spirit of full disclosure they were too delicate. They added flavour but not texture. They seemed to have been fully absorbed by the cream.
Let your imagine go..... If you come up with an exciting flavour combination drop a comment below and inspire us all!
Any Ice Cream Flavouring with 4 Simple Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 cups whipping cream 500 ml
- 10 oz Sweetened condensed milk 300 ml See Note 1
Optional Ingredients
- Note: All flavouring should be added to the sweetened condensed milk. Keep cookie crumbs and nuts if using separate.
- almond extract, vanilla extract, peppermint extract flavouring of your choice. Start with a ½ teaspoon of extract, mix it in and add more if needed to taste.
- ¼ peanut butter
- ¼ cup syrup of your choice- chocolate, caramel, dulce de leche, maple, lemon, orange, peppermint, rum etc See Note 5 for homemade Dulce de Leche
- ¼ cup cocoa powder mix in to sweetened condensed milk and add more to taste.
- 8 cookies, crumbled flavour of your choice
- ¼ cup nuts of your choice crushed or chopped
- ½ cup Pista pistachio cream mix Pista with sweeten condensed milk and add ¼ cup crushed pistachios. Added to whipped cream until uniformly mixed.
Instructions
- Whip the cream to a soft mound stage, in a large bowl.
- Add flavouring of your choice to the sweetened condensed milk. Start by adding a small amount and test it for flavour. Add more flavouring to get the desired strength.
- Roughly crumble cookies.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk in to the center of the whipped cream (do not stir yet). Add cookie crumbles if using to the center of the whipped cream. Stir gently to mix through. You are trying not to deflate the whipped cream but create swirls of the flavouring and spread the cookies around.
- Freeze at least 10 hours in an airtight container. Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving.
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