No ice cream maker? No problem, say the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, who have found a brilliant hack.
“An ice cream maker works by churning a mixture — usually milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks — as it freezes to inhibit the formation of ice crystals and to incorporate air,” says Morgan Bolling, the deputy food editor who developed the recipe for ATK’s Cook’s Country, “so that instead of a solid block of frozen milk, you have silky, creamy ice cream.”
So instead of using a churn to incorporate that air, you whip the cream in a blender. (Bolling tried using a mixer, but it added too much air.) And using liquid sweeteners — sweetened condensed milk and corn syrup in the case of this No-Churn Birthday Cake Ice Cream recipe — keeps the ice cream “soft and scoopable.”
Pro tip: It may be tempting to use an ice cream-type container for freezing, but the mixture will freeze faster in a loaf pan or 8-inch square baking pan. Which means you’ll be in sundae heaven all the faster.
Bolling and her team have developed 12 churn-less ice cream recipes in all, from salted caramel-coconut to peach cobbler, classic vanilla, dark chocolate, and a birthday-cake flavor that’s achieved via store-bought vanilla frosting and a drizzle of yellow food color — and rainbow sprinkles, of course.
Here are the how-tos for that one. Next week: Dark Chocolate.
Birthday Cake No-Churn Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
½ cup store-bought vanilla frosting
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
⅛ teaspoon yellow food coloring
2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
Directions:
Process cream in a blender until soft peaks form, 20 to 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of blender jar and continue to process until stiff peaks form, about 10 seconds longer. Using rubber spatula, stir in condensed milk, frosting, whole milk, corn syrup, sugar, vanilla, salt and food coloring. Process until thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed.
Pour cream mixture into an 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan. Gently stir in sprinkles. Press plastic wrap flush against surface of cream mixture. Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours. Serve.
— Cook’s Country, America’s Test Kitchen
