No Churn Ice Cream? Back in 2001, when Nigella Lawson shared her first no churn recipe for Bitter Orange Ice Cream, I was dubious. How could something so easy really taste like proper ice cream? Thankfully, my curiosity got the better of me and, served in margarita glasses with grated orange and lime peel, this delicious recipe became one of my go-to dinner party desserts. Elegant and light, it was always a perfect finish to the meal.
Over the years, Nigella has developed several more no churn ice creams – including a delicious Margarita version and a Pomegranate version as well. I think I’ve tried them all and they are consistently delicious. The biggest effort involve is a little bit of creativity when it comes to serving dishes and garnishes. So when I saw this recipe for No Churn Coffee Ice Cream in Nigella’s latest book, Nigellissima, I couldn’t resist. Like all the others, it was absolutely delicious, perfect after a meal or as a special late afternoon treat. Dark chocolate proved the perfect foil and I often use it to garnish this recipe but you would be amazed the number of fruits that go with its creamy coffee deliciousness as well. You could also use those chocolate covered coffee beans you find in gourmet stores.
No churn ice creams can be whipped up first thing in the morning, frozen in a glass or Tupperware container and served later that day. There’s no complicated recipe or bowl to freeze. I dream of making absolutely from scratch ice cream one day – I even have the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid – but during this busy season in our lives these no churn recipes really work for me.
One of the best things about no churn ice creams is that you can pronounce all the ingredients used to make them. The primary ingredient in most is double cream (usually called heavy cream in North America), although this coffee version uses sweetened condensed milk as well. Icing (confectioner’s) sugar provides the sweetness and liqueur and fruit juice – or in this case coffee – provide the flavour.
In Nigella’s words, no churn ice creams really are “the work of moments” – after less than ten minutes in the kitchen early in the morning, the freezer does the rest of the work. It’s best to eat no churn ice cream the evening you make it or within a couple of days. Long term storage in the freezer does nothing for these delicate treats.
No churn ice cream can freeze quite hard so you’ll need to take it out of the freezer to temper for about ten minutes before you serve. Once you do that, it is easy to scoop into pretty dishes or glasses. Get creative with the garnishes and you’ll have a dessert that looks and tastes like you slaved in the kitchen even though you really didn’t.
Curious? You’ll need double cream, sweetened condensed milk, espresso powder and coffee liqueur. For the instructions on how to make this delicious recipe, please click here.
For more no churn ice creams visit Nigella.com
If you enjoyed this post, don’t miss my Easy and Delicious Desserts for Busy Weeknights!
Comments & Reviews
Hi April!
I hadn’t heard of no churn ice cream before, but it sounds great! I will go check out more recipes. Thanks for writing about it.
Thank you for visiting, Darlene 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipes!
I love my ice cream machine. But, this recipe and your photo makes the no-churn coffee dessert look sooo inviting. Of course, I have saved the recipe =) And Pinned the lovely photos =)
Thank you so much for pinning and sharing 🙂
I actually loooooooove churn ice-cream, and have been making it for quite some time now. It’s great!!
And I have a craving for ice cream now just looking at your photo!
Thank you, Winnie!
Oh My Gosh April, I’m always making homemade ice cream, but after reading this and seeing the recipe, I’m going to have to try it — coffee mocha chip ice cream is one of my favorite flavors — I think I’ll have to try to re-create it. Thanks so much for sharing!
I hope you enjoy the recipe, Joanne 🙂 Please let me know how it turns out – coffee mocha chip sounds fantastic!
As someone who doesn’t have an ice cream maker, has no intention of buying one, and has a child who would eat ice cream everyday if I let him, I appreciate this recipe/method! Thank you for linking, April. I apologize for taking so long to stop by. Work has been keeping me very busy this week with lots of long days.
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you like the no churn ice cream recipes. They are definitely great for busy weeks 🙂 In fact, I just served a variation on one of them at a dinner party last night. Have a great week!
I’m considering making this but using an orange liquor instead of the coffee. And maybe add in some sliced almonds. Has anyone else tried this? How did it work out?
Hi Jay, You could definitely swap out the liqueur. I do that kind of thing all the time. However I tried adding coconut to a no churn ice cream once and it made it a bit dry. So, I probably wouldn’t freeze the almonds in with the ice cream, but you could definitely garnish with the sliced almonds. Actually if it’s a more orange flavour you are looking for, may I recommend you check out my Blood Orange No Churn Ice Cream? It might be an easier recipe to start from to get the flavour you are looking for.