No churn ice cream means that no ice cream machine is required. You just mix all the ingredients together, freeze, and voila, creamy, smooth, luscious ice cream. How is that possible you ask?
When you make ice cream the traditional way, in an ice cream machine, the action of the paddle, churning the mixture, is actually incorporating air into the ice cream, so you end up with a light and fluffy finished product.
The secret to no churn ice cream is two key ingredients. The first is whipped cream. You whip the cream before mixing it into the other ingredients. The act of whipping causes the volume to increase and incorporates air into the cream. Whipping the cream replaces the work of the ice cream machine.
The second key ingredient is sweetened condensed milk which has a very high sugar content. Sugar lowers the freezing point and prevents the ice cream from becoming rock hard. The “condensed” in sweetened condensed milk, means that the milk has been cooked down to reduce the water content. Less water means that you will not form ice crystals. So you end up with a smooth and velvety ice cream.
But sweetened condensed milk is a mixed blessing. While the high sugar content keeps it creamy, it can also produce some very queasily sweet ice cream. The solution, I have discovered, it to be strategic about the flavours that you incorporate into it. I would not add crushed Oreos to make Cookies and Cream, or fudge and marshmallows to make Rocky Road ice cream.
I added malted milk powder to my no churn ice cream. Stella Parks calls malted milk powder the umami bomb of desserts. Malted milk powder contains barley malt, wheat flour, milk powder, and salt. The barley malt gives malted milk powder a roasted, toasty earthy flavour. The salt aids in tempering the sweetness, and enhancing all the other flavours in whatever it is combined with.
Malted milk powder is mixed with some heated 1% milk to dissolve it. That gets cooled down while you whip the cream. Mix the sweetened condensed milk with the malted milk mixture and fold in the whipped cream, some vanilla bean paste and a pinch of salt. Pour that into a 9x 5 inch loaf pan.
I decided to add a chocolate swirl to my ice cream. A touch of coconut oil added to the melted chocolate keeps it from becoming too brittle when it freezes. Put the ice cream in the freezer for at least 5 hours before scooping.
Creamy, rich and smooth, with a real toasty depth of flavour, this is ice cream for grownups. If I weren’t socially distancing this summer, I would invite my friend Mrs Grizzly over for a few scoops. She is a malted milk aficionado.
Feel free to drizzle a little extra melted chocolate on top. I don’t think anyone will complain.
