With just a few simple ingredients, this blackberry chocolate no-churn ice cream recipe makes a yummy cold treat. Don't have blackberries? You can replace blackberry with any other berry of choice and the best thing is this recipe works great with fresh or frozen berries!
Not your usual one-bowl-and-whisk method, this recipe does involve a bit of work but you will not regret it! Trust me. If you have been making no-churn ice cream but end up with ice crystals and hard-to-scoop ice cream that also melts too fast then you need to upgrade to this recipe!
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Homemade no-churn Blackberry Ice Cream
I learnt two lessons from Nagi of Recipe Tin Eats on no-churn ice cream making. 1) cook down the fruit and 2) use baking paper to cover the surface. I tried mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, and figs and with berries, I have tried both fresh and frozen. This technique works like a charm!
Tagging a recipe as homemade is to say this is better than store-bought but it may lack the lustre of an upscale fancy restaurant. But I can assure you, this recipe will produce an intense flavour that will blow your mind!
No-Churn Ice Cream
Unlike a traditional ice cream recipe churned in an ice cream maker, no-churn recipes rely on whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk.
The churning process aerates the mixture making it light and fluffy and stopping icicles from forming so the ice cream is creamy. We replicate the same with whipped cream for fluff and sweetened condensed milk for the cream.
The duo base of condensed milk and whipped cream can be upgraded to flavour variations that can be stirred through (like nuts, cookies, choco chips, dried fruits) or infused (like cinnamon, vanilla, etc.). But once you decide to add fruit purees – the addition of water-based ingredients affects the creaminess of the ice cream.
I believed that is how far a homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker can get. That the icy, hard-to-scoop, melting too fast are given in no-churn ice cream. I was wrong!
Tip to make the best fruit based ice creams
Remove the moisture from the fruit by roasting or cooking it down! You have a concentrated pulp that will intensify the flavour and the colour of the no-churn ice cream. An added step, but you will not regret it at all. And if you are like me, you will never go back to making no-churn ice cream the old way.
Tips to whip cream
If you ask why your whipping cream is not whipping to a stiff peak, then you should know these tricks:
- Make sure you are using whipping cream and not just cream or fresh cream etc.
- If you live in a humid climate, keep your bowl and whisks in the freezer until chilled. Also, make sure your whipping cream carton is not out of the fridge until it is needed.
- Lastly, whip using an electric whisk on medium to high speed for 3 to 4 mins.
How to use frozen berries to make no-churn ice cream
Thaw the frozen pack as per pack instructions. Do not discard the juice. Use all of the content to cook down or roast.
Fresh Vs Frozen blackberries
I have tried this recipe both with fresh and frozen blackberries and the only difference I noticed was the frozen version was too seedy. It would be a good idea to sieve the cooked-down berries to get rid of seeds. I guess it could be a quality factor, but fresh berries are the best choice to make ice creams.
How to make no-churn berry ice cream
Roast or cook down the berries.
Blend without adding any water. If you find the berry too seedy, try to push the mixture through a sieve to get rid of the maximum seeds.
Add the condensed milk.
Whip the berry mixture with the sweetened condensed milk just to aerate.
Whip the whipping cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold the berry mixture into the whipped cream. Fold in some chopped chocolates or choco chips.
Transfer into a freezer container
and place baking paper over the surface before using the lid. Freeze for a minimum of 12 hours.
You will be amazed to find that the ice cream that will come out of your freezer not only looks like store-bought ice cream but it also scoops like store-bought ice cream. It does not melt into a puddle as soon as you serve like with the old recipe. (take a look at the old recipe image at the end of this post to see the difference)
📖 Recipe
Blackberry Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 250 grams blackberries fresh or frozen
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 100 grams sweetened condensed milk (approx ¼ cup)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup chopped chocolate of choice
Instructions
Pan roast the blackberries
- Add the blackberries and sugar to a thick-bottomed pan and heat on a low to medium flame. Keep stirring and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened. Switch off and let it cool.
- Blitz using a blender and if required, push the mixture through a sieve to get rid of large seeds.
Prepare the berry cream mixture
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and blackberry puree for a couple of minutes until combined and aerated.
- In another large bowl, add the whipping cream and use the electric mixer and whisk for 3 to 5 minutes at a medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the blackberry mixture in small batches until everything is combined.
- Stir in the chopped chocolate.
Freeze and Serve
- Pour the mixture into a freezer container and smooth the surface.
- Place a piece of baking paper to cover the surface and then cover it with a lid.
- Freeze overnight or for 12 hours.
- Remove from freezer, remove the paper to scoop and serve in cones or bowls! If it was sitting in the freezer for more than 24 hours, then give it a few minutes on the counter before you can scoop and serve.
November 2021: Updated the contents, recipe and images of this post which was originally published in 2015.
Shazia says
Woow look at the colour!It looks superb and I want it just now.
Famidha Ashraf says
Thank you Shazia! Have you made this way?
Shazia says
I never tried with fruits but will surely try soon............
Rafeeda A. Raheem says
Why didn't I come around and comment? The combination of whipping cream + condensed milk will go with any flavors... Just mix one tin + around 500 ml whipping cream and then add in any flavored puree you want, it will work out like charm... 🙂 Just so that you don't have any confusion for the future... Even I never found heavy cream here, so any recipe that asks for heavy cream, I look at the use - if it is for cooking, I use fresh cream or the Puck/Nestle packs and if it is for whipping, then definitely whipping cream/ Dream Whip... I just love the color of the blackberries! Never bought them though I have bought blueberries once... Since mostly the grocery bills go from my pocket, I think two times before I buy heaving priced stuff... 😉
Famidha Ashraf says
aha! that makes it clear now! I do have a tin of cream and haven't got around that yet! 🙂