Easy No Churn Peppermint Ice Cream Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making ice cream very creamy? ›

When it comes to great ice cream, cold temperatures and speed are your friends: the faster you bring your base from liquid to solid, the creamier it'll be. In a 2-quart unit, a typical batch of ice cream will take between 18 and 25 minutes to churn.

Sugar, corn syrup or honey, as well as gelatin and commercial stabilizers, can all keep your ice cream at a softer consistency. Ice cream also stays softer when you store it in a shallow container, rather than a deep tub, and cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap to keep ice crystals from forming.

Step 1In a small resealable plastic bag, combine half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Push out excess air and seal. Step 2Into a large resealable plastic bag, combine ice and salt. Place small bag inside the bigger bag and shake vigorously, 7 to 10 minutes, until ice cream has hardened.

Most home ice cream recipes call for simple table sugar, which is chemically known as sucrose. But in pro kitchens you have more options. Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.

Eggs add rich flavor and color, prevent ice crystallization and help create smooth and creamy ice cream. But adding raw or undercooked eggs can cause a Salmonella infection and it's usually the ingredient responsible for a foodborne illness outbreak associated with homemade ice cream.

Eggs leverage the fat already present in the ice cream base (the butterfat in cream and milk) and make it work even further for a creamier texture. But wait, there's more! Egg yolks also improve the stability of an ice cream, reducing its tendency to melt before you can get it from freezer to cone to mouth.

If the ice cream is served at a lower temperature, there will be less unfrozen water so the ice cream will be harder. The objective is so to balance the recipe to reach this 75% of unfrozen water at the temperature where you will serve your ice cream.

To continue our bread analogy: As bakers add sugar to bread to keep it soft and moist, ice cream makers alter consistency with sugar. By binding with liquids, sugar molecules prevent an ice cream base from fully freezing into crunchy ice. That is, the more sugar you add, the softer and less icy your batch will be.

Remove the chilled ice cream base from the fridge and whisk well. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, typically 20 to 30 minutes. The ice cream will be soft after churning. For firmer ice cream, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2 to 4 hours before serving.

What can I use if I don't have a ice cream maker? ›

The greater the salt content, the lower the freezing point of the water. At the same time, dissolving salt in the liquid water causes the water temperature to drop, generating ice cream quicker.