Can you make smooth creamy ice cream without an ice cream maker? This has been the dream of home cooking enthusiasts for decades. A new “no-churn” method that’s been gaining popularity on the internet for a few years now, promises just that. So, is it really possible to get ice cream without hand cranking an old fashioned bucket of ice and rock salt or using an electric counter top ice cream maker?
Everything we know about making smooth silky ice cream, up until recently, has said no. You must have an ice cream machine that breaks up the ice crystals as they form. Then you must chill that soft ice cream as quickly as possible in order to get the small fine ice crystals that make smooth velvety ice cream possible. A few years ago intrepid kitchen hackers began circulating an incredibly simple and fast “no-churn” method for making delicious homemade ice cream with minimal effort, ingredients and equipment. Where did this method come from and was it actually as good as the internet claimed? I set out to find out.
The Invention of “No-Churn” Ice Cream
2015
The first time I saw this type of “no-churn” method in formal print was in a “Cook’s Country” cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen circa 2016. The recipe was originally published in 2015. It was more complicated than the recent versions circulating on the internet, included many eggs and required cooking before freezing.
2012
Nigella Lawson also published a version of “no-churn” ice cream in 2012 in her “Nigellissima” cookbook that was much simpler and contained no eggs. Nigella’s approach involved the much simpler method that most are familiar with today. Simply whip together heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and whatever flavorings you like, freeze until set and you have ice cream! I thought perhaps Nigella Lawson, who according to Wikipedia started working as food critic in 1985, was the one who invented this method. A deeper dive proved otherwise.
2010
I stumbled across a vanilla ice cream recipe using the “no-churn” technique on the BBC Good Food website from 2010—two years prior to the version in Nigella Lawson’s cookbook. It seemed Nigella, like America’s Test Kitchen after her—and most other cooks everywhere—had simply put her own spin on an existing recipe. Now twelve years removed from the present day “no-churn” hack, how far back could this method be traced?
1996
In a well worn “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook, I came across a chocolate version of this “no-churn” ice cream using the same technique and ingredients circulating in current day vlogs, but published in 1996! That’s 9 years before the existence of YouTube!
1981
I began to include my family members in my search for ice cream truth. I asked my mother in-law for her oldest cookbooks. It was in this dusty brittle collection that I found a promotional booklet of recipes. The booklet was printed by the Borden company in 1981 (2 years before the internet was made available to the public) to promote their Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk as the “dessert maker”. The booklet was filled with dessert recipes developed in the Borden corporate kitchens, including one for “Easy Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream”. Borden’s recipe called for mixing their sweetened condensed milk with whipped cream and freezing it, for a fast, “no-churn” ice cream. So, as I had come to suspect, the “no-churn” method so popular today was actually a promotional recipe developed to increase sweetened condensed milk sales. The mystery had ended predictably enough—or so I thought.
1979
Finally, searching for the oldest cookbook I had on hand, I turned to one of my garage sale finds—a regional booklet of local recipes published by The Green Mountain Studios in Vermont. The collection of family recipes included one for something very familiar called “Bridge Triumph” submitted by a Miss Mary Keswick. The simple recipe called for mixing maple syrup, peanut butter and heavy cream together and freezing it. The date of this publication was 1979! So Borden probably wasn’t the first to come up with this clever frozen dessert technique after all!
What’s Old is New Again!
My search may not have revealed the whole history or origins of “no-churn” ice cream, but it did lend credence to that old saying, “There is nothing new under the sun”. I am sure a deeper dive would result in even earlier versions of this technique, probably dating all the way back to when electric home freezers were invented in 1913. Whoever “invented” this technique, I am remiss in that I have never tried it until now.
The Challenge
My filming for March was winding down and I was notably exhausted. The final dessert recipes I had planned had not tested well and after a month of hearty stews, casseroles and pizzas, I was in the mood for something more refreshing and quick. I also had some lovely organic Japanese Matcha powder I had been itching to break into and a bunch of heavy cream leftover from recipe testing. Thus, the Matcha Ice Cream challenge was born. How would this “no-churn” method I had heard so much about, compare to a traditional churned ice cream? Is it worth the extra effort to pull out the ice cream maker versus just whipping some cream?
Concerns
My concern about the “no-churn” method of making ice cream was it’s richness. Traditional ice creams and even richer frozen custards don’t use 100% heavy cream in their base. Yes, the other main ingredient in this technique is sweetened condensed milk, but I was not convinced the milk part of that equation would balance out the heavy cream and prevent the ice cream from tasting like sweet frozen butter.
A Fair Fight
Traditional ice creams can be made with or without eggs. If you use eggs it is technically a frozen custard and results in a denser, smoother ice cream. To even the playing field in this challenge, I chose to go with a traditional ice cream not frozen custard base. A traditional ice cream would have all of the same basic components of the “no-churn” method, without the eggs of a frozen custard that would give it an unfair textural advantage. This would also allow both recipes to be about equal in terms of level of difficulty. Neither recipe requires any cooking with the only difference being how they are frozen.
How did I update each of these recipes:
To give each recipe a chance to be the best version of itself, I made a couple of changes. I included a small amount of alcohol in the form Vodka in each recipe. Alcohol acts as an anti-freeze in ice cream because it never freezes solid. This prevents the ice cream from developing “freezer shock” as it sits in the freezer. Freezer shock is when homemade ice creams that lack the gums and stabilizers of factory made products, freeze into a solid ice block after sitting for more than a few days to a week in the freezer. I also decreased the amount of sweetened condensed milk in the “no-churn” ice cream to make it less cloyingly sweet. I added a small amount of light corn syrup to the traditional ice cream. Like alcohol, the corn syrup (which is technically glucose syrup), helps the ice cream develop and maintain a smoother texture. An additional dash of salt also balances the sweetness of both these recipes.
The Results: Pros and Cons
Each of these methods produced some desirable and undesirable results. Let’s look at them below.
The “No-Churn” Method
Pros
It is very easy to make.
It only contains 5 ingredients.
Cons
It has a very high fat content and could upset the stomachs of those with GERD.
The high fat content translates into a slightly unpleasant mouth feel.
It is very, very sweet.
The texture is closer to whipped cream or frozen mousse than true ice cream.
Traditional Ice Cream
Pros
Easier than the “no-churn” method because no whisking is required.
It has a more familiar “ice cream” mouth feel.
Contains 37% less added sugar.
Contains 54% less fat.
Eliminating the sweetened condensed milk makes it easier to reduce the lactose in recipe for the lactose intolerant.
Cons
You need 2 Extra Ingredients. (Milk and Corn Syrup)
You need an ice cream machine.
Pre-chilling the ice cream base before processing it in the ice cream maker adds prep time to the overall recipe.
So what’s the verdict?
I don’t know if you can say which of these methods produces a superior product because in the end it truly comes down to individual preferences. If you love extra rich desserts, the “no-churn” method could be your go to easy ice cream. If you like lighter and more refreshing fare, traditional is the hands down winner. In the end I mixed them both together to get what I considered a better balance of both!🤣 Try them both and you decide. My spin on each of these recipes and a special note* is below.
Recipes
No-Churn Matcha Ice Cream: (Makes about 1 Quart)
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (360 grams) Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups (240 ml) Heavy Cream, chilled.
1 ½ tbsp (7 grams) Matcha Powder
⅛ tsp Table Salt
1 Tbsp (15 grams) Vodka, chilled.
Directions:
Chill a shallow one quart dish in the freezer for at least one hour.
Add vodka and salt to a large mixing bowl. Add the matcha powder and stir thoroughly until no lumps remain.
Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix until incorporated. Add heavy cream and stir until fully incorporated.
Whip mixture to soft-medium peaks with handheld or stand mixer. Do not over whip or it will turn into butter.
Immediately transfer to the chilled dish. Press a sheet of plastic wrap down over the surface of the ice cream and transfer immediately to the freezer. Freeze for 8 hours. Let soften in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Traditional Matcha Ice Cream (Makes about 1 Quart)
Special Note*
As it turns out, the traditional ice cream recipe I initially developed for this article and the accompanying video did not quite live up to my expectations. The perfectionist that I am could not let it rest. I went back to the drawing board and developed the best Classic Eggless Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with several flavor variations, including Matcha, that is far superior to the one listed below. These recipes will be available soon on my new and improved website starting in July 2022. The recipe below still makes a delightful and refreshing ice cream that is perfect for hot weather, especially if you want something lighter than the “no-churn” style ice cream.
Ingredients:
1 Cup (240 grams) Heavy Cream, chilled.
2 Cups (480 ml) Milk, chilled. (I used 1% Lactose Free Milk)
½ Cup (100 grams) Granulated Sugar
1 Tbsp (15 grams) Light Corn Syrup
1 Tbsp Vodka
⅛ tsp Table Salt
1 ½ Tbsp (7 grams) Matcha Powder
Directions:
Chill a shallow one quart dish in freezer for at least one hour.
Pour sugar into a large bowl. Add matcha powder and salt and stir to combine.
Add ½ cup of the milk and the corn syrup and whisk to combine.
Add remaining milk and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add heavy cream and vodka and stir to combine. If mixture is above 38° F, cover and put in the freezer for 30 minutes or until it chills to 38° F.
Stir and pour into ice cream machine according to machine instructions and churn until it reaches the consistency of soft serve.
Transfer immediately to your pre-chilled dish and press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface of the ice cream. Transfer immediately to the freezer for 8 hours. Let soften in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before serving.