No machine required
No-churn vanilla
Whipped cream, a tin of condensed milk and a good vanilla. Fifteen minutes of work, no cooking, no eggs and no ice cream maker, and it scoops straight from the freezer.
- Makes about 900 ml
- 15 min hands-on
- Freeze 6 hrs
- No machine
- No eggs, no cooking
Ingredients
- 400 ml1⅔ cups double cream (heavy cream), well chilled
- 1 tin (397 g / 14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod
- A good pinch of fine salt
Method
The only skill here is knowing when to stop whipping. Soft peaks, not stiff ones.
- Put the mixing bowl and the beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes. Cold kit whips faster and holds more air.
- Whip the cream to soft peaks: it should flop over gently when you lift the beaters. Stop there. Over-whipped cream turns the ice cream greasy rather than light.
- In a second bowl, stir the condensed milk together with the vanilla and the salt.
- Fold a third of the whipped cream into the condensed milk to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two goes. Use a spatula and a light hand: the air you keep here is the only air this recipe gets.
- Scrape into a shallow tub of about 1 litre, level the top, press parchment onto the surface and put the lid on.
- Freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
Worth knowing
- The salt is not optional. Condensed milk is very sweet, and a pinch of salt is what stops the whole thing cloying.
- Ripple, do not stir. Spoon a third of the mixture into the tub, dot with sauce, repeat, then drag a knife through once. Stirring turns ripples into a muddy colour.
- It scoops straight from the freezer, unlike the churned recipes, which is why it is the one to make for a houseful of children.
- Do not halve the tin. Make the full batch and freeze half in a second tub: next week is sorted.
Make it yours
Five ways to change it
Cookies and cream
Crush 8 chocolate sandwich biscuits and fold them in at step 4, keeping a few large pieces.
Coffee
Dissolve 2 tbsp instant espresso powder in 1 tbsp hot water, let it cool, and add it at step 3.
Berry ripple
Cook 200 g berries with 2 tbsp sugar until jammy, cool it completely, then ripple at step 5.
Salted caramel
Ripple 150 g of caramel sauce through at step 5 and scatter flaky salt over the top.
Lemon
Fold 4 tbsp of lemon curd and the zest of a lemon in at step 4 for something much sharper.
If it goes wrong
Rescue remedies
It is greasy, almost buttery
The cream went past soft peaks and started turning to butter. There is no fixing it after freezing, but the next batch will be perfect if you stop earlier.
Too sweet for me
Fold 150 g of full-fat Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche into the condensed milk at step 3. It cuts the sugar and adds a pleasant tang.
It never firmed up properly
The tub was too deep, or the freezer too full to circulate air. Use a shallow container and leave a little space around it.
Can I add fresh fruit?
Only if it is cooked down first. Raw fruit is mostly water, and water turns to ice shards in a no-churn base.