Yum
Have you ever tried to make homemade ice cream? Although it is a rare treat, homemade ice cream takes . . . OK. Let’s just say it. FOREVER. So how are you supposed to enjoy these last, fleeting days of summer, and grind the gears of your ice cream maker at the same time? Well, my friends . . . there is an answer to that.
Make no-churn ice cream that takes 5 minutes. Whip out your amazing creation at family movie night. Bask in the praise of your fans. Summer sweetness just got a lot easier. You’re welcome.
What are we waiting for? Let’s do this!
No Churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream
(adapted from basic ice cream recipe)
Ingredients:
2 cups cold heavy cream
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 can Dulce de Leche
Sea salt, for serving
Directions:
Beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until mixture forms soft peaks. Fold in sweetened condensed milk until combined. Pour cream into 2 loaf pans and gently pour warmed caramel over the top (I microwave caramel just until smooth enough to pour– not enough to make it hot). Swirl caramel slightly with a knife, cover pans with foil, and freeze until firm. Salt individual bowls with a few grains of sea salt before serving.
Now, in pictures! 🙂
The beautiful thing about this ice cream recipe is that you don’t need an ice cream freezer! You can make so many flavors . . . from Cookies and Cream to Espresso Chip. It was actually my hubby’s idea to start this homemade ice cream “theme” that we’ve been working at for several weeks, now. I thought it would be fun for him to get involved in “that blog thing you do,” and he thought it would be fun to have homemade ice cream at his disposal constantly. Go figure. haha.
Anyway, if you have a mixer and a freezer, you can make homemade ice cream. You don’t need a Kitchenaid mixer– even a regular ‘ole hand mixer will work. Combine your cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together and whisk until your mixture forms soft peaks (the peak you make when you pull the beaters out of the cream will bend over and not stand straight up).
Yay! Here are your soft peaks, and guess what? You just made homemade whipped cream– that lesson is a freebie. Well, technically all these recipes are free, but . . . you get the idea.
Now, pour in that delicious sweetened condensed milk. Fold it into the cream by swiping the spatula along the sides of the bowl. You are just kind of wrapping the spatula around and around the cream so that everything gets incorporated, but you don’t smoosh all the air out of the fluffy beauty you just made. Pretend you’re giving the cream a combover. Just lightly over the top.
And here is your pretty cream and sweetened condensed milk all mixed together. Purdy!
Now it’s time to meet your new best friend– the easiest caramel in the world– Dulce de Leche. You can find this little gem in the Hispanic section of the grocery store. It’s the most delicious, creamy stuff ever. If you can’t find it, or if you just have some regular old ice cream topping caramel begging to be used up so you can use that prime real estate in the fridge for the ketchup, then, by all means, you can substitute that. I’d hate to be responsible for stealing ketchup’s parking space.
If you are using the Dulce de Leche, open up your can and scoop some caramel into a microwave safe bowl. This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but microwaving the sauce for 10 seconds or so helps it get nice and soft so it’s more “pourable” into your ice cream. But how much caramel do I need???? Eh . . . it’s totally up to you. Do you just want a taste, or a caramel coma? Your decision will guide you . . . to caramel bliss.
There is really no way to make this picture look good. Yesssssssss I know it looks like a cow pie. Sigh. But don’t worry– when you swirl the caramel through the vanilla cream with a knife, it will make everything all better. I experimented with adding the salt directly to the cream, as you see here, and I also tried sprinkling salt on top when the ice cream was finished. Guess what I learned? Yeah . . . there’s a reason they sprinkle salt on the roads to keep the ice off. Ice and Ice Cream don’t mix. Go figure. The one where I added the salt pre-freeze never really did get “firm.” It was kind of slushy– still good, but not what I was looking for. The batch where I made the caramel ice cream and sprinkled salt on top when serving? Perfecto. Yep. Sprinkling on top is definitely the way to go.
Let the ice cream freeze overnight, if you can. We want our ice cream to be delicious (and not at all “cow” looking. Yeeaaack).
Oooohhhhh yeah. Now that’s what I’m talking about! THAT is ice cream.
Chill 2 fancy dishes in the freezer and dish up scoops of this delicious, velvety loveliness. Sprinkle a few grains of sea salt on top of each bowl, and carry this sweet, icy treat out to the porch with your honey. Cuddle up on the porch swing and watch the lightning bugs as the moon rises. Smell the fresh air. Taste the ice cream. Feel the sweetness.
Because you did it. And I’m just so proud of you.
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