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Homemade Soft Serve Ice Cream, Soft Serve, Soft Serve Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Homemade Ice Cream, Gemma Stafford, Bigger Bolder Baking, Recipes, Desserts, Frozen Desserts, Summer Frozen Desserts
Soft Serve Ice Cream Recipe
Prep Time
30 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 

Make my Homemade Soft Serve Ice Cream recipe and you'll enjoy creamy, smooth vanilla soft serve just like you get in an ice cream shop and without the machine!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 3 pints
Author: Adapted from Chefsteps.com
Ingredients
  • 4 cups (32floz/900ml) milk, full fat*
  • 1 Cup (8 oz/225g) sugar
  • Cup (5oz /142g) cream
  • 3/4 cup (33/4oz/105g) dry milk powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 900 grams (2 lbs) dry ice* (this has to be measured in weight and not cups)
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and use a hand blender to combine ingredients, about one minute. Just be sure to whisk away any clumps of milk powder that form in the mix. You can also use a blender.

  2. Cover and reserve in the fridge until you’re ready to churn. It’s important to keep the ice cream base really cold.

  3. Carefully transfer your dry ice to a clean tea towel or apron and wrap it up completely. Wear gloves when handling the dry ice as it is extremely cold.

  4. With a heavy cast iron pan or a hammer, crush dry ice into a fine powder.

  5. Transfer crushed dry ice to a plastic bowl or Tupperware container and pop back in the freezer until you are ready for it.

  6. Pour your ice cream base into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and begin mixing on medium speed.

  7. Add dry ice one spoonful at a time. Allow foam and steam to dissipate, then add another spoonful.This takes around 5 minutes.

  8. NOTE: Adding too much too fast will lead to a big pile of bubbling ice cream all over your work surface. Nobody wants that. Go slow. Seriously.

  9. Keep adding spoonfuls of dry ice until the ice cream begins to thicken. When it does, increase mixing speed, continuing to add spoonfuls of dry ice until your ice cream is rich, thick, and creamy. (You may need less or slightly more; it depends on many different factors. So just go slow and eyeball it—when your ice cream looks like soft serve, it probably is!)

  10. Store in the freezer until you’re ready to serve. Mix up the ice cream again and scoop it into a piping bag fitted with a large, round nozzle.

  11. Pipe into your cones and enjoy straight away. It is best eaten that day. I don’t recommend freezing it overnight as it is hard to scoop later.

Watch the Recipe Video!

Recipe Notes

*best served within 2 hours of making, otherwise it will freeze rock solid.

I have not tried using a nut milk but I think it would work.

Dry ice: See where you can buy dry ice in the last paragraph of the post.