Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Our Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream elevates your frozen desserts with a sweet and tangy cheesecake with swirls of jammy strawberries and chunks of buttery Graham cracker crust. With our recipe, this ice cream parlor fave is surprisingly easy to make, with just 40 minutes of prep time!

• An indulgent delight: With its dreamy texture and a harmonious blend of luscious flavors, a scoop or two of Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream is the ultimate summer cool-down. Bursting-with-flavor berries are perfectly matched with the velvety sweetened cream cheese, and Graham cracker crumbles add toasty flavor and textural appeal.
• No ice cream-making experience needed! Our straightforward recipe makes whipping up this ice cream easy, and it’s far superior to store-bought without guar gum. Simply cook the berries, mix up the other ingredients, and churn!

For this indulgent ice cream, I’m proud to partner with Rodelle to bring you this recipe. There are so many vanilla extract options at the grocery store and online, but I choose Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract because it’s the best for all your baking needs! Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Extract has the best flavor because it’s expertly blended from the finest vanilla beans, ensuring consistently outstanding flavor in every batch. It’s equally important to me that Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract is ethically and sustainably produced and that Rodelle has nearly 100 years of tradition and vanilla expertise. And, Rodelle’s Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract is available in stores and online – making it even easier to find.

Table of Contents

• What is Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream?
• Tools You Need
• Key Ingredients
• How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
• Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
• FAQs
• More Strawberry Dessert Recipes

What is Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream?

• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream is a churned strawberry ice cream made from sweetened heavy whipping cream and whole milk. It is flavored with Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract and classic cheesecake ingredients—cream cheese, lemon juice, and Graham cracker crumbs.
• Churned ice cream has the old-fashioned creamy texture that will bring you back to long summer days and ice cream cone treats! As the ice cream churns, the air is incorporated into the mixture, making it blissfully creamy, with the ideal balance of richness and light, whipped texture, without any chance of graininess or crystallization.

After you’ve made this Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, try our other Bigger Bolder Baking ice cream recipes, including 2-Ingredient Chocolate Ice Cream, Real Mint Chocolate Chip Gelato, Frozen Vanilla Custard, and 6-Ice Cream Flavors (Homemade Ice Cream Party)!

Tools You Need

• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Glass measuring jug
• Kitchen scale (optional)
• Wide saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Masher (optional)
• Heatproof bowl
• Food processor or blender
• Ice cream machine
• Spatula

Key Ingredients

• Fresh or frozen strawberries

  • Strawberries are the primary flavor in this recipe. They’re are cooked with sugar to thicken them, accentuate their flavor, and intensify their sweetness.
  • The berries give this ice cream with Graham crackers its lovely pink color.
  • You can use either frozen or fresh strawberries here. Alternatively, can use different berries for this ice cream if you wish, cooking them down with the same method. Blueberries and raspberries are great substitutions.

• Granulated sugar

  • For strawberry jam:

    • Sweetness: Sugar makes jam taste sweet.
    • Preservation: Sugar helps jam last longer by stopping bacteria from growing.
    • Texture and Set: Sugar helps jam become thick and spreadable by working with the fruit’s natural pectin.
    • Flavor Enhancement: Sugar makes jam taste better by balancing its natural flavors.
    • Alternatively, you can use allulose sugar, honey, or maple syrup. Note that other sugar-free sugar substitutes can not caramelize so won’t work well in jam-making.

  • For the churned ice cream:

    • Sweetness: Sugar makes ice cream sweet.
    • Texture and Creaminess: Sugar helps make ice cream smooth and creamy by preventing large ice crystals from forming.
    • Flavor Enhancement: Sugar enhances the overall flavor of ice cream by adding depth and richness.
    • Alternatively, you can use honey, maple syrup, or other sugar substitutes. Note that sugar-free sugar substitutes can not caramelize so may not lower the freezing point to avoid ice crystals.

• Lemon juice

  • Lemon juice enhances the flavors of cream cheese and strawberries and provides a zingy counterpoint to the ice cream’s sweetness.
  • Additionally, lemon juice helps preserve the pretty pink color of the ice cream,

• Graham crackers

  • Graham crackers crumbs and butter replicate cheesecake’s toasty, pleasantly sandy crust.
  • The honey notes and subtle warm spice in Graham crackers play off the tanginess of the cream cheese.
  • The Graham cracker clusters give the ice cream texture and mild crunch.
  • Alternatively, you can use digestive biscuits or Biscoff cookies.

• Butter

  • The melted butter binds the Graham cracker crumbs together into delectable clusters.
  • Additionally, the butter adds a slightly salty, savory taste that deepens the ice cream’s flavor profile.

• Full-fat cream cheese

  • Full-fat cream cheese gives this ice cream a full-bodied flavor and plush, rich texture.
  • Using full-fat cream cheese instead of low-fat is crucial to replicating cheesecake’s decadent taste and creaminess.
  • Importantly, the additional fat and protein in full-fat cream cheese help to stabilize the ice cream, keeping the mixture perfectly smooth.
  • Be sure to check our recipe How to Make Cream Cheese for the freshest result.

• Whole milk

  • Whole milk makes the ice cream mixture thick and creamy but not dense.
  • It has a milk fat content of around 3.5%, contributing to its richness and creamy texture.
  • Alternatively, you can also use half-and-half or plant-based milk such as oat milk, almond milk, cashew milk, and coconut milk.

• Heavy whipping cream

  Use full-fat whipping cream/heavy whipping cream (which is cream from cows) with a fat content of  35-38% fat.

  • Creaminess: Provides richness and creaminess to the ice cream due to its high-fat content.
  • Texture: Helps create a smooth and velvety texture in the finished product.
  • Stability: This contributes to the structure of the ice cream and prevents it from becoming too icy when frozen.

• Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract

  • Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract adds a deliciously robust, creamy vanilla flavor to the ice cream.
  • Additionally, Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract accentuates the cheesecake and strawberry flavors and adds warmly sweet, floral notes.
  • Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract also gives the ice cream an irresistible aroma that elevates the eating experience.

• Salt

  • Salt accentuates the flavors and balances the sweetness of the ice cream.
  • Additionally, salt interacts with the proteins in the heavy whipping cream and milk, stabilizing them and helping create a smoother ice cream mixture.

Make it Bold!

Serve this with our homemade cones and sprinkles that you can easily make while the ice cream sets in the freezer.

How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

1. Cook the strawberries: 
   • In a saucepan over medium-low heat, cook strawberries, ¼ cup (20 oz/57 g) sugar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
   • Cook for about 10 minutes, until strawberries break down and get thick and jammy.
   • Mash up any remaining large berry pieces, transfer to a heat-proof bowl, and refrigerate until cold, about one hour. 

2. Make the Graham cracker crumble:
   • In a small bowl, combine crushed Graham crackers and melted butter until it forms a crumble. Set aside.
3. Mix the ice cream base:
   • In a food processor or blender, mix cream cheese, milk, cream, sugar, Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Extract, salt, and remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice until smooth.
   • Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Churn and finish the ice cream:
   • Churn the cream cheese mixture in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturer’s directions.
   • Gently fold in the strawberry mixture and Graham cracker crumbles.
   • Put the ice cream in a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least four hours before serving. 

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips

• Cook and mix in the strawberries correctly. When cooking the strawberries, use medium-low heat and stir frequently to prevent burning. Be sure the strawberries are completely cold before folding them into your ice cream.
• Mash the berries well. Make sure to mash the strawberries well after cooking. If there are big lumps of fruit, they will freeze hard and will make your ice cream more difficult to eat.
• Make a sundae! Make Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Sundaes by serving scoops of this ice cream with a drizzle of 3-Ingredient Strawberry Sauce and a dollop of Crème Fraiche Whipped Cream!
• Let it soften before serving. This ice cream tends to freeze hard, so I suggest letting it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before scooping.

Make Ahead & Storage Instructions

To make  Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream in advance:

• Cook the strawberries and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
• Prepare the Graham cracker crumble, and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.
• Mix up the ice cream base, cover well, and keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
• Once the ice cream is churned, you can put it in an air-tight container and freeze for up to 4 weeks.
  • Store leftover Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to two days.

FAQs

• Can I make Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream without an ice cream machine?

  • This recipe is designed to be made in an ice cream maker, and it won’t work without churning.
  • For a no-churn option, check out our 2-Ingredient Strawberry Ice Cream, which is made with sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream without an ice cream machine–you’ll only need a stand mixer or a hand mixer.

• Can I use an electric hand mixer instead of a blender or food processor to make the cream cheese mixture?

Yes, you can. You could also beat the mixture by hand, but since it’s so thick, it will be challenging to get it perfectly smooth.

• Can I make this ice cream vegan?

  • I don’t recommend substituting making this recipe with non-dairy whipping cream.
  • Instead, try our Strawberry and Mint Dairy-Free Ice Cream, made with luscious Coconut Condensed Milk!

More Strawberry Dessert Recipes

• No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• 3-Layer Neapolitan Cake (Chocolate, Vanilla, & Strawberry)
• Strawberry Cheesecake Cobbler

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Sinful Chocolate Granita Recipe

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