Growing up, mom always made ice cream at home. Sometimes for special occasions, sometimes just like that. She thickens the milk, adds flavorings (if any), blends the mixture and freezes it – with no ice cream churning machine. I actually preferred her slightly firmer ice cream to the store-bought version. Nothing beats the taste of a bowl of fresh, milky ice cream. She has her signature mix-ins too. Cocoa powder for chocolate ice cream, pureed mangoes for mango ice cream, pistachio flavored ice cream and so on. Once when I was still in school, she even made coconut milk ice cream. That was when terms like vegan or low-fat was never used to describe desserts. Yes, she was ahead of her times.
This year when we visited India, I saw her whip up a small batch of chocolate ice cream for Boy within minutes. Usually, she takes her time to par-freeze the ice cream mixture, blend it and re-freeze it at least a couple of times. That is the old-fashioned trick to smooth homemade ice cream. Boy didn’t wait for all that. He slurped down the semi-frozen mixture with more gusto than I’ve ever seen.
Why have I never made ice cream? I don’t have a particular reason. Or maybe I do. My first and only ice cream making adventure till now was as a newly wed. Back then, my hubby and I were big fans of the Travel & Living Channel. I saw Nigella making pomegranate ice cream the old-fashioned way, like my mom. I decided I’ll be making that. Let’s just say it didn’t go quite well.
It was a disaster! Can you believe that I didn’t think to strain the pureed pomegranates? The seeds settled in a thick layer, the sugar separated into another layer, it was a creamy mess! On top of that, mom dropped in on a visit and kindly made us a batch of her usual ice cream. Nothing more was said about the incident.
When I made mango kulfis, I vowed I’ll learn to make ice creams the old-fashioned way. Of course, I’ll take some short-cuts like using custard powder. That is the easiest way to homemade ice cream without a hot scrambled egg mess. I experimented a couple of times by making plain vanilla ice cream till I was satisfied. Then it was time to create something blog-worthy. The easiest way to dress up vanilla ice cream is to add any kind of fruit sauce (or coulis as the French call it; everything sounds better in French). I decided to use juicy, ripe blackberries.
I love the gorgeous color of cooked blackberries. You can very well use ready-made fruit preserves or jam, but you don’t need to. Whipping up a berry sauce is a breeze and you can wear your ‘I made ice cream at home‘ badge proudly!
As you can see, I am no expert at staging or photographing frozen desserts. By the time I was done, the ice cream was a melted mess. But I decided to roll with it! That’s how one learns, am I right? But make no mistake, it was absolutely fantastically fabulously delicious! Yes, that’s three superlatives in one sentence, that’s how good it was.
You will need:
For Vanilla Ice Cream,
- Whole Milk – 4 cups
- Vanilla custard powder – 3 tbsp
- Sugar – 1/2 – 3/4 cup (as per sweetness required, I used 1/2 cup and a few extra teaspoons)
- Milk powder (full fat) – 4 tbsp (optional, but it helps)
- Heavy cream – 6 tbsp
For Blackberry Sauce/Coulis,
- Blackberries – 6 oz
- Sugar – 4 tsp, heaped
- Water (or lemon juice) – 1 tsp
How to:
- In a small bowl, combine the custard powder with 1/4 cup milk, stirring well to ensure there are no lumps. Keep aside.
- Heat the rest of the milk in a large, thick-bottomed pan. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat and add the custard powder paste. Cook the custard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to ensure there are no lumps. You can feel the mixture gradually thickening.
- Now add the sugar and milk powder and cook till the mixture is thickened (to coat the back of a wooden spoon, like pancake batter).
- Once thickened, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Allow to cool completely.
- Pour this vanilla ice cream mixture into a flat-bottomed, freezer-safe dish and keep it in the freezer. This mixture should be blended and frozen a couple of times. Meanwhile, you can prepare and refrigerate the berry sauce. Read on below.
- Blackberry sauce: Take the ripe blackberries, sugar and water/lemon juice in a saucepan and cook on medium heat. Once the berries soften, mash them with the back of a spoon. Strain this mixture to remove the seeds. Return the sauce to the pot and cook further till slightly thickened. Cool and store in the refrigerator till needed.
- Freezing & Swirling: In a couple of hours, the ice cream would have started to freeze at the edges of the dish. Blend it well in a blender and freeze again. Do this at least twice or thrice, if you have time. Just before the last freeze cycle, gently pour the chilled blackberry sauce on top and make random swirl marks with a spoon or fork.
- Freeze for 6-8 hours or till firm. Take it out and keep on the counter 5-10 minutes before serving so that it is easier to scoop. Serve with fresh blackberries or your favorite toppings. Enjoy some delicious homemade ice cream!
Notes:
- As I said, I made plain vanilla ice cream a couple of times before posting this. I experimented without the milk powder and heavy cream and once by adding some condensed milk. Though they all were really good, I found that the heavy cream adds a nice texture and richness to the ice cream.
- Blackberry (or any fruit) jam or preserves are a nice alternative to the sauce. Swirl some into the ice cream mixture or top individual servings with it. It’s totally worth it and will complement the vanilla ice cream perfectly. Also, feel free to up the amount of berry sauce used.
- This ice cream is heavenly in milkshakes too.
A scoop of delicious freshness. Nothing says summer better than ice cream!
Do you have an ice cream machine? Or do you prefer the old-fashioned method? What is your favorite ice cream flavor and fruit combo? Do share.
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I love this! It sounds and looks so good with the blackberries
Thank you, Michelle! It was lovely with those berries.
The simple things, the things that refresh childhood memories the things that taste yummy…your recipe captures all that…and a big ‘phew’ on the no churn element x
Thank you, Deena!
Homemade ice cream without ice cream machine? This is perfect for summer months and perfect for those who wants to enjoy ice cream but without the machine!
Your photos look perfect! I love melted ice cream so I don’t mind not being able to have a good shot at once.
Thank you so much for the tips, Anjana and for the notes. Glad you brought this to FF.
Hope you have a lovely weekend! <3
Thank you for the lovely comment, Jhuls. Appreciate it!
Yum!! I LOVE your presentation too!
Thank you!
Custard powder ice cream. There’s something to save for the warmer weather. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
My pleasure. Do try it!
Looks gorgeous Anjana! Gonna try making ice cream your way. & I love your vibrant pictures
Thank you, Naina! Do try it!
How beautiful….and who’d have known? Custard powder in ice cream? Gosh, I’m rushing out to buy the ingredients, and it must pair amazingly well with the blackberries. Your pictures are awesome! I can taste what you’ve whipped up for the party.
Thank you, Loretta. I hope you try it and let me know how it goes!
I adore blackberries. When I was a child we would go horseback riding through wild blackberry bushes as tall as the horse and we would pick them and pop them warm into our mouths. Luckily there were so many we collected them to bring home too. They would have been perfect with your ice cream. Happy Fiesta Friday!
Aww… Those must be some sweet memories. Thanks for sharing your story and happy weekend!
This looks amazing!!!
Thank you!
This is so great, Anjana. No ice cream maker needed, home made icecream and absolutely love your photography, don’t know why you think they aren’t good. But I can imagine how the icecream would have melted but then when you make it you have it any which way. It looks super.
Thank you, Aditi. The pics didn’t work out quite like I planned. I had to salvage whatever remained (notice the tiny tart pans? Haha) It was an amazing experience and further deepened my respect for pro photographers. But I am sure they have quite a few tricks up their sleeve that we may not be aware of.
I cannot justify purchasing an ice cream maker, it’s just going to gather dust after a few weeks. Three cheers for homemade!
beautiful pictures! btw I made the milkshake with frozen milk cubes yesterday and used blueberries – loved it! Thanks for the awesome ideas
Thanks Sarah. Glad to know you liked the milkshake tip. Blueberry milkshake sounds awesome!
Anjana – this looks so, so good! I love that your mum makes this too. Great tip about the custard powder. Ice cream is hard to shoot but your photos make it seem like a doodle! Thanks for bringing this to the party!
Thank you, Selma. Appreciate it!
I love love looove homemade ice cream but I’ve never been sure how people get the swirl in it! This sounds soo great
Me too. But I decided to go ahead and experiment it. If the mixture is kind of slushy, then you add the sauce, it doesn’t sink all the way down.
wow i need to try this x
Please do and let me know how it goes!
oh i will for sure, thank you..summer time approaches
We need to add one more superlative like “photographically” or something . . . i think the photo is beautiful! Maybe you were referring to photos of the process which you did not publish? Now, God Bless you for posting this recipe, I too grew up with my mom making homemade (usually fresh peach) ice cream in the summers, and she used an old fashioned hand-cranked with rock salt churner. Such wonderful memories! Alas, my kitchen (and husband) will not permit one more kitchen toy, so to know that I can make a delicious ice cream at home without a ginormous machine is so exciting to me! And just in time for summer. Many thanks!
Thank you. Yo are too kind! I had visions of photographing these large delicious scoops of ice cream. It didn’t work out and I had to use those mini tart pans (to hold what little ice cream remained that had not melted).
It was a great learning experience. I know now that frozen desserts have a mind of their own when comes to capturing their beauty.
I know what you mean about adding another kitchen gadget. That’s what’s keeping me from getting an ice cream maker as well.
Glad you enjoyed this post!!
delicious!!!!!!!
Thank you, Simi!
I don´t own an ice cream maker either, and currently trying out many recipes to be prepared for summer ice cream-wise! So this ones fits right into my kitchen schedule!, merci! PS: I am amazed that this one works without eggs!!
That’s great. I hope you try it. Egg-free custard powder is popular in India, used to make desserts that call for egg yolks.
Looks simply awesome!
Thank you, Anitha!
What a great post Anjana. Absolutely delicious and gorgeous :). Loved loved loved your clicks.
Thank you so much, Sonal. Glad you liked it!
I think your ice cream looks wonderfully delicious and the photographs vibraint and full of color and life. Really enjoyed your post!
Thank you so much. Appreciate it!
Delicious! No churn….those are the magic words.
For sure! Do try it, Aruna
This was so fun to read! Your ice cream looks so amazing! With blackberries…can’t think of a better addition to the homemade ice cream!
Aww… thank you, Lori! I am not a big fan of blackberries, but I love them in milkshakes and ice creams.
This just looks beautiful Anjana! Blackberries are one of my favorites!
Thanks again, Lori!
Awesome!!! I remember my mom making icecream too!! Just a sight of the aluminum dabba in freezer and we would get crazy!!!
Love the way you write. Thumbs up!!
Good old days! And thanks for the lovely compliment