Ice Cream Recipes - Homemade, Gourmet, Egg-Free & More | Taste of Home (2024)

FAQs

Is homemade ice cream better with or without eggs? ›

Eggs add rich flavor and color, prevent ice crystallization and help create smooth and creamy ice cream.

While some swear you need eggs to emulsify and stabilize the ice cream, you really just need a thickener (cornstarch) and protein (cream cheese).

You can make tasty ice cream without them, but there's a reason that almost every recipe published in the last 50 years calls for them. Here's why: After water, egg yolks are mostly fat and protein. Fat, which freezes differently and less hard than water, makes ice cream soft and creamy.

As you churn ice cream, individual water molecules turn into ice-crystal seeds — which is what makes cream freeze. The higher the fat content, the more time you have to churn before these ice crystals congregate, resulting in creamier final texture.

Most home ice cream recipes call for simple table sugar, which is chemically known as sucrose. But in pro kitchens you have more options. Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.

But sometimes you end up with an ice cream that tastes like scrambled eggs. This is most likely due to the cooking temperature being too high. When cooking your custard base, make sure the temperature of your custard does not go higher than 185°F (85°C).

This easy ice cream recipe requires no cooking and no eggs. Half-and-half and cream team up with sugar to create a simple, old-fashioned vanilla ice cream that tastes great.

Egg Yolks: The most traditional thickening agent, egg yolks contain natural proteins and fats that contribute to a rich and luxurious texture in custard-based ice creams. Cornstarch: Often used in non-custard ice creams, cornstarch mixed with milk helps thicken the base and create a smooth mouthfeel.

Texture: Most people said the homemade ice cream seemed softer and fluffier, and it melted a little faster than the supermarket sample. Flavour: Our testers found the homemade sample's flavour was more subtle – which was considered a good or bad thing depending on the person.

Why does my homemade ice cream melt so fast? ›

The proportions of air, ice crystals, and fat used in ice cream determine its melt rate. There is no ideal recipe for the perfect ice cream, and manufacturers adjust these components to customize their ice cream. This is why some ice creams melt quickly, while others never seem to melt at all.

Ice cream made by simply churning milk, cream, sugar and flavorings is variously known as Philadelphia, American or New York style. It is far quicker and easier to prepare than French-style ice cream because it doesn't require making a custard. It is a great choice for serving on ice cream cones.

The kind of sugar you add also matters. High-viscosity liquid sweeteners like honey, glucose syrup, and yes, good 'ol corn syrup make for a more viscous base, which translates into chewy richness in churned ice cream.

The most common ones used in ice creams are guar gum, cellulose gum and carob bean gum. They are used to reduce ice crystal growth, deliver flavour cleanly, increase smoothness, body and creaminess and slow down melting. They also help hold the air bubble structure together and give the ice cream a better texture.

So you can up the fat in your ice cream by substituting cream for milk or half-and-half in recipes. Even more effective, is that you can also add more egg yolks if making a custard-based ice cream, which will increase the creaminess due to their emulsifying properties.

The proper emulsifier, such as egg yolk, results in reduced air cell sizes and a hom*ogeneous distribution of air in the ice cream. The lecithin-protein complex in egg yolk solids improves the whippability of ice cream, also lending it a more dry appearance, smoother body and texture and a slower meltdown.

Adding candy pieces, nuts or dried or fresh fruit to your ice cream can add a whole new flavor and texture dimension. Mix-ins should be small, around the size of a chocolate chip, so the ice cream maker can incorporate them into the frozen ice cream.

Using dairy with a low fat content.

It's what gives ice cream its rich flavor and smooth, creamy texture. Substitutes like low-fat or skim milk don't freeze as well, seriously lack in flavor, and leave ice cream with an icy texture. → Follow this tip: When you're making ice cream, it's time to embrace fat content.