No-churn Ice cream

from my wife’s blog Cocoa + Cotton

We use our ice cream maker all the time and wouldn’t be without it, but completely appreciate it may seem a waste for some to invest in a large, expensive machine if they’re only going to use it a handful of times in the summer – so this no-churn ice cream recipe has you covered if you’d rather not splash out. Quick to whip up, it doesn’t require any specialist equipment, except a hand or stand mixer and some patience while it freezes. Flavours and options are endless, but this basic vanilla recipe makes for a beautifully smooth texture and the perfect base for any other additions you want to pop in – nuts, chocolate, coffee or streaks of fruit coulis. I’ll be popping up some dedicated variations of this vanilla version in the weeks ahead.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Equipment:

• hand or stand mixer
• freezer-proof storage bowl (1L capacity)

Makes: Fills a 1 Litre capacity freezer-safe dish

INGREDIENTS

no-churn ice cream:

• 3 large egg whites (or powdered egg whites with water as per packet instructions)
• 180 grams icing sugar
• 450ml double cream

If you want to add chocolate chips, biscuit pieces or any similar additions as we did (variations are endless), add and mix through just before pouring the ice cream into your freezer proof storage dish. A variety of options are given below. On this occasion, we split our mix in half and added half of the first two of the following:

Vanilla flavour:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Dark Chocolate chip flavour:

• 100 grams dark chocolate chunks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.

White Chocolate chip flavour:

• 100 grams white chocolate chunks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.

Coffee and Vodka flavour:

• 1 tablespoon espresso
• 2 tablespoons vodka

Ginger flavour:

• 100 grams stem ginger, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ginger syrup

Raspberry flavour:

• 150 ml raspberry coulis (homemade recipe here) – layer ice cream into container and swirl the coulis through liberally.

Rum & Raisin flavour:

• 150 grams raisins soaked in 4 tablespoons of rum for a couple of hours

METHOD

1. Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer until stiff peaks form. Watch carefully and be sure not to overmix or it will turn from soft, billowy peaks to a grainy, watery mixture that cannot be salvaged.
2. Slowly whisk in the icing sugar and continue to whisk until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Set aside.
3. Place the double cream in a separate large mixing bowl and whisk on medium-high until the cream is thick enough that it drops off a spoon. Again, be careful not to overmix or it will turn from soft and thick consistency to a curdled result.
4. Add the egg white mixture to the whipped cream until fully combined.
5. Mix through any extras if desired at this stage – on this occasion, we split our mixture and added dark chocolate chunks and vanilla paste to one half, and to the other we added coffee and vodka. 
6. Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze for a minimum of four hours. 

To finish:

Remove from freezer to serve as desired. We placed several scoops into china cups and served with a scattering of chopped pistachios and dark chocolate, laced with our favourite homemade toffee sauce.