Home Made Ricotta Ice Cream

When I first came across this recipe, what immediately stood out me was the use of ricotta. Any recipe that uses ricotta is a winner in my book, and if it’s a dessert, I am all in! I was also intrigued by the fact that making this ice cream recipe was a no churn process (more on that in a bit). But let’s be honest, it was mainly the ricotta that inspired me.

Before we get into the recipe itself, let me explain to you the difference between this ice cream, which is a no churn ice cream, and a traditional home churned ice cream. Churned ice cream is made with an ice cream maker. The ingredients are mixed in a chilled bowl with a slow motorized whipping paddle, which helps create a creamy, light textured home made ice cream. We have an older ice cream maker in our house and use it every once in a while. It’s not difficult to use and makes a good ice cream, but the bowl has to be chilled in the freezer for a minimum of 12 hours prior to making the ice cream. The mixed batter then has to be frozen for a minimum of 6-8 hours before serving. Serious advanced planning is involved. I don’t have much information on newer ice cream machine models, so there may not be as much ‘hurry up and wait’ involved.

This recipe that I’m sharing is for a non churn ice cream, meaning there is no need to use an ice cream maker. An electric mixer or a hand mixer is the only appliance that you need. Sweetened condensed milk is also a key ingredient in no churn ice creams, which helps create the sweet, creamy texture. No churn ice creams will be thicker and more dense, but creamy and tasty nonetheless. There is also a quicker freezing time, approximately 5-6 hours. You will most likely have to let the frozen ice cream sit out for a few minutes before scooping because it will harden up more than the airier churned ice cream, but it will be worth the wait. Now that we took care of the scientific facts, let’s get on to the recipe.

I’ve read up on quite a few no churn recipes, and the one that I have decided to follow for the base ricotta ice cream recipe could be found at howsweeteats.com. The ingredients for this recipe are very simple: heavy cream, whole milk ricotta, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt to help with the freezing process. We also added chocolate chips to our batter for extra goodness. The ingredients get whipped up using a stand up mixer or a hand mixer. The batter gets poured into a freezer safe container (a non-stick loaf pan works well for this), and then 5-6 hours later you have a rich, creamy and decadent home made dessert that will impress all of your family and friends!

If you are curious about how ricotta ice cream tastes, as I was before we made it, I would say that it is kinda-sorta in the cookie dough/cake batter class of ice creams, only not as sweet. You know those delicious Italian ricotta cookies, which are often served around the holidays with the light glaze and candied sprinkles on top? This is the ice cream version of those cookies.

Home Made No Churn Ricotta Ice Cream

8 ounces cold heavy cream
16 ounces (2 cups) whole milk ricotta cheese
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour heavy cream into a mixing bowl and mix with hand mixer or electric mixer until stiff peaks start to form.

In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients until well combined. If you only have one mixing bowl to work with, remove the whipped cream and set it aside, reusing the bowl for the remaining ingredients.

Once all ingredients are well mixed, fold in the whipped cream. Pour the combined batter into a freezer-safe container. A loaf pan works well, or you can purchase ice cream containers online or at your favorite kitchenware store.

Freeze for 5-6 hours. If the ice cream is too hard to scoop, let it sit out at room temperature for a few minutes before serving. Scoop and enjoy!

Cannoli Ice Cream

To give this ice cream a cannoli flair, add a teaspoon of powdered sugar and a dash of cinnamon to the whipped cream, then add a half cup of mini chocolate chips, half cup of chopped pistachios and a half cup of crushed cannoli shells to the batter before freezing. If you cannot find cannoli shells, you can use crushed graham crackers or crushed sugar ice cream cones.

Pumpkin Ricotta Ice Cream

There are two approaches that you can take to making Pumpkin Ricotta Ice Cream. You can simply give a pumpkin spice taste to the ice cream by adding either 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice OR one half teaspoon of cinnamon, one quarter teaspoon of nutmeg and one eighth teaspoon of allspice to the batter. Or if you are a pumpkin purist, you can add one half cup of pumpkin puree to the batter along with the spices. Be sure to reduce the ricotta by one half cup to compensate for the addition of the pumpkin puree.