Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream (No Ice Cream Maker)

Why this recipe works

Once you start making ice cream at home, you’ll want to make it all the time because:

• It has fewer ingredients we can’t pronounce. We know exactly what goes into our recipes and can control what we don’t want to be in there.

• You can make it your own. You can totally make this recipe your own. Prefer white chocolate chips? Use that. Fancy a triple berry ice cream? Go for it.

• It’s really easy and fun to make. Homemade ice cream is so simple to make and it brings out the creative side in you!

Ingredients

You only need 5 ingredients to make this recipe:

• Fresh strawberries
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Vanilla extract
• Heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can also use dark chocolate chunks)

That’s it!

Tools

Chocolate strawberry ice cream is super easy to make, all you need:

• An electric mixer (I use a stand mixer but a handheld electric mixer will work just fine)
• Oven-safe baking dish
• Mixing bowls and spoons
• Spatula
• Freezer-safe container (I use the ones above)

Because it’s no-churn, this recipe doesn’t include eggs or egg yolks making it that much more simpler.

What’s the best way to wash fresh strawberries?

There are plenty of ways to wash strawberries but my favourite one is placing them in a bowl filled with 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar. Make sure they’re all submerged.

I leave them there for about 15 minutes then rinse with cold water a few times until I get the dirt and grime out. I then lay them flat on a piece of paper towel and allow to dry.

Don’t worry, the berries won’t take on a vinegary flavour. And I find that using vinegar helps keep the strawberries fresher longer, if I don’t plan on using or eating them immediately. 

Can I use whipping cream or half and half to make ice cream?

Homemade, no-churn ice cream has two main ingredients: condensed milk and whipped cream. 

You want heavy cream, which has 36 to 40 percent milk fat, because it results to firmer, more stable whipped cream with stiff peaks that hold their shape longer. This is what gives your homemade ice cream that smooth texture and creamy taste.

In a pinch, you can use whipping cream (30 to 36 percent milk fat) but it will result to a lighter, softer texture.

Half & half cannot be substituted for heavy cream in no-churn ice cream recipes because it just doesn’t have enough fat content for whipping (10 to 18 percent).

How can I prevent homemade ice cream from getting freezer burn?

To prevent your ice cream from getting freezer burn or forming ice crystals:

• Place a piece of plastic wrap (wax paper and parchment paper can work too) directly on the ice cream’s surface before placing the lid. This also helps prevent freezer smells from seeping into your ice cream.
• Make sure you use a freezer-safe container with a proper, tight-fitting lid.

It’s still safe to eat ice cream with a few ice crystals. It’s going to affect the texture and the taste though so you really want to protect it from air (its main enemy) and eat it within 2 weeks of making it.

How long does homemade ice cream last?

Homemade ice cream lasts about 2 weeks in the freezer. Because it doesn’t have the same preservatives as store-bought ice cream, when it comes to homemade ice cream, the fresher the better. 

Some tips to keep it fresh for longer:

• Cover the top with plastic wrap (see above)
• Store in a relatively shallow and flat container vs. a deep tub
• Store towards the back of your freezer so that its temperature can remain fairly constant