No Churn Ice Cream – Mint & Chocolate

 For something easy, on a hot summer day, I decided to make some no churn ice cream.  I saw the idea in an Ocado magazine and it used fresh mint leaves and some chocolate chopped into pieces.  I thought it sounded very good, so I decided I would try that flavour as my first attempt. 

I haven’t bought ice cream for many years, it is just something that I never really bothered with, as I ended up throwing it away after it had been in the freezer for far too long.  But I thought I would try this simple way to make my own, as it is rather too warm for much baking, and then I would get to enjoy it as a dessert.

The method is very simple indeed, and it is very quick, in terms of time needed to make it.  In fact only 10 or 15 minutes effort is required.  But the elapsed time is much longer, since the mint has to infuse for at least 12 hours, and then the mixture has to freeze for at least 4 hours.  But that waiting time is well worth it.  Then, when it is frozen it just has to left out for the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to soften enough to be scooped out.

Mine turned out very well indeed, having a lovely smooth and creamy texture and such a great mint flavour.  The chocolate pieces add just that little extra to the whole thing.

Of course you can use different flavouring too.  For a softer scoop you can also use a little alcohol in the mixture which will prevent the hard freeze.  Over the coming weeks I intend to try a few different flavouring, using some alcohol, so I will post those on here too.

No Churn Ice Cream – Mint & Chocolate

Recipe by Geoff Cooper from a recipe in Ocado magazine

Ingredients

• 600ml(2 1/3 cups + 4 tsp) double cream(or heavy cream)

• 397g(14 oz) can of condensed milk

• 30g(1 oz) fresh mint leaves

• 100g(3 1/2 oz) dark chocolate chopped(or chocolate chips)

Directions

• Pour the cream into a bowl.
• Rub the mint between your fingers to release the oils and flavour.
• Add the mint into the cream and stir around.
• Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours.
• Strain the mixture and discard the mint.
• Whisk the cream until it just about reaches stiff peaks.
• Slowly and gently stir in the condensed milk until combined.
• Gently stir in the chocolate pieces.
• Pour the mixture into a clean plastic container and cover with a lid or plastic wrap.
• Place the mixture into the freezer for at least 4 hours, until if is frozen.
• To serve remove it from the freezer and leave on the counter for about 15 minutes before scooping.