homemade ice cream recipe

With my twenty-first birthday on the horizon, I’ve had the fun task of choosing the menu items for the party — as is the tradition in my family — and, of course, one of the menu items is the cake. Now there are several in my family that don’t care for cake that much, or would much rather prefer a different dessert in place of it. For example, my older brother has had pumpkin pie for his birthday since he was five or six, which is almost my whole life. At any rate, I’ve been exploring alternative options for my “cake” and recalled last year in which I made my own ice cream.

If you know me and my dessert preferences, it’s probably come to your attention how much I love a good bowl of ice cream, trying and sampling ice cream brands, flavors, parlours, and most recently, family- and friend-made recipes. This recipe is my favorite homemade version that I’ve come across or come up with so far. Bonus: It’s also super cheap, simple, and easy!

• 2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
• 4 cups (2 pints), heavy whipping cream
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1 cup raspberries, frozen (or fruit of your choice)

Note: When I make this, I make it for my family of nine, therefore it makes enough to fill a nine inch, round cake pan just under the brim. If you’re looking to make less, try splitting the recipe in half and filling a bread pan instead.

1. Start by pouring the vanilla, heavy whipping cream, and 1/3 of one of the sweetened condensed milk cans into a large bowl.
2. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer, gradually but steadily adding more of the sweetened condensed milk, until it looks about 1 1/2 to 2 times its original size (8-12 minutes, from what I’ve seen). Let the mixture sit while you prepare the berries.
3. Take your frozen berries out of the freezer and decide how you’d like them prepared. I didn’t defrost mine because I wanted their tartness and texture in clumps, but if you want more like a syrup, feel free to defrost them, or even add 1 teaspoon of sugar to them and heat them up in the microwave or on the stovetop to melt it, stirring constantly until it’s a syrup-like consistency. I personally put mine into a quart-size Ziplock bag and hit them with a rolling pin to break them into halves and thirds.
4. (If you made syrup, ignore this step.) Once your berries are as you’d like, fold the frozen berries into the cream mixture with a spatula, careful to evenly distribute them. Pour the mixture into the container(s) of your choice and freeze for 12 hours or until solid.
5. (If you left the berries as is, defrosted or frozen, ignore this step.) You’ll want to let your berries/syrup cool to room temperature if you heated them. Pour an inch layer of the cream mixture into the container(s) of your choice and freeze the mixture for 1 hour. Then pour a thin layer of the syrup over it and freeze again for 15-20 minutes. Repeat until all the mixture and syrup is used, then freeze for 4 hours or until solid.
6. Serve with your favorite toppings, or as I prefer, just plain or with more berries/syrup on top.

The end result is super creamy, with hints of vanilla, raspberry, and the sweetened condensed milk peeking through. I love how versatile and tweak-able this recipe is and always sneak a scoop as we watch TV or as an afternoon snack.

I hope you all enjoy as much as I do!

All the recipes listed on this site are Biblically clean based on the laws described in Leviticus 11. However, if you’re looking for a specific diet, try these tags:
gluten free, kosher, vegan, vegetarian, low-carb, dairy-free, low-sugar