No Churn Ice Creams (& Non Dairy Possibility)

Asked by TrishE. Answered on 25th January 2011

Full question

My two girlfriends and I tried the two no- churn ice cream recipes over New Years. We had a slight problem - for the margarita recipe, my girlfriend hadn't read your recipe correctly, and she whipped the cream FIRST -without the liquers and lime juice - she added them to the whipped cream - did a quick final whip - then into the freezer! Well, YUMMO! Such decadence was intoxicating - our husbands thought we were marvelous! BUT, we also followed your Pina Colada recipe exactly - and with the malibu and juice, the cream WOULD NOT THICKEN! We froze it anyway, but it wasn't the same texture as the margarita one? It still was a GORGEOUS silken texture on our tongues,, but was a very icy type consistency... You have opened our thoughts to LOTS of variations on this basic recipe - so THANK YOU from the bottom of our stomachs! TrishE

Is there any way I could make the no churn ice cream using a dairy free equivalent? Kerra

Our answer

The no-churn ice creams are developed using UK double cream which has a fat content of 48%. This is fairly high and usually the cream will whip and become aerated even after the extra ingredients have been added. However if whipping cream is used (or for the US heavy cream) then the slightly lower fat content can make it more difficult to whip the cream and we suggest that the cream is whipped to soft peaks first and then the extra ingredients are whisked in - add as a thin stream while whisking constantly. So for the Pina Colada do try it again and whip the cream and sugar first then add the pineapple juice, Malibu and flavourings.

For dairy-free versions of the no-churn ice creams we understand that there is a non-dairy soya whipping cream made by a company called SoyaToo! which is available on-line in the UK and the US (see below). As it is whipping cream then again we would suggest the product is whipped to soft peaks first, before whisking in the extra ingredients - however we have not tested any of the ice creams using this product so we cannot guarantee success.

http://www.veganstore.co.uk/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=204

http://www.soyatoo.de/us/our-products/