Home made ice cream for a baking hot day, no machinery required
It is BAKING today and in homage to the heat, I thought I would have a go at making some ice cream. I have those three tins of condensed milk that a friend gave me, so I thought I might be able to make something nice with one of those. A bit of Googling later, this was the result.
Two different flavours of home made ice cream
I thought I’d use half the tin for each of two different flavours. A bit of rhubarb from the garden and a chocolate one.
They still aren’t fully frozen at lunchtime, but we had a little from the edge of the containers. Oh my goodness, it is so good. Especially the chocolate! I can only have a taste because of the caffeine, but I SO enjoyed that taste.
You don’t need to make an egg custard and you don’t need an ice cream maker. There isn’t a trace of an ice crystal crunch either. If you leave it to get fully frozen, take it out half an hour before you want to eat it and let it soften a little in the fridge first. Or, my husband gives it a little blast in the microwave, because he’s too impatient to wait!
Before you freeze it, have a portion as a mousse, super thick and unctuous
What other flavours of home made ice cream?
This was so successful, lots of other flavours occur.
- I’ve got several packets of cheap dried apricots in the cupboard, make a paste with some of those and that would be fab.
- You could dissolve some coffee powder in the yogurt and make a coffee ice cream. This is the favourite of a friend of mine, and is quite hard to find
- Or how about a few fresh raspberries or strawberries.
- Or some fresh figs if you have a tree.
- Or damson purée from foraged fruit.
- Or blackberry purée from autumn fruits stashed in the freezer. I would sieve out the pips first
- Toast some sweetened breadcrumbs and stir into a mix flavoured with vanilla.
- Make a peach or mandarin purée using the value tinned fruit, drained.
- You could use any of the flavours to make a ripple type one by stirring the flavouring through the condensed milk / yogurt / cream mixture.
- Soak some mixed dried fruit overnight in strong tea or some kind of booze for a tutti frutti.
- Add a little splash of liquer, so a Baileys version, or rum and raisin, or raspberry and whiskey for a Scottish themed flavour.
- A good dollop of black treacle and a big handful of walnuts crunched up into small pieces is a fantastic home made ice cream
- Pomegranate molasses gives a lovely sharp option, i really liked that one
- Stir through some cooked, pureed orange peel for a glorious orange flavour ice cream
Oh and I’m sure there are many other flavours too. I wasn’t sure how much cream I’d need, so I got two 300ml pots, another two flavours won’t be long in coming 
If you’ve made some ice cream and used half the tin of condensed milk, Zoe Morrison at Eco Thrifty Living has pulled together 11 different ways to use it up, including this wonderful looking fudge
Home made ice cream without the condensed milk
I had a conversation with a chef and one of the things she said was that she used to make ice cream in the hotel where she worked using just cream and a jar of good strawberry jam.
So I tried a batch with half whipped double cream (300ml) , half full fat Greek yogurt (300ml) and half a jar of some fancy pants marmalade bought at a farmers market and never used. The best before date was 2008!!!!
Usual method, whip the cream, stir in the yogurt, add enough marmalade so that it tastes right. Result was stunningly gorgeous. The sugar from the marmalade was the perfect amount, but if the jam you used wasn’t, just add some granulated sugar until it’s sweet enough.
I had some plum and apple jam in the cupboard from 2013, that was delicious. It was surprisingly sharp and would need a smooth and creamy one to go with it
Using jam along with condensed milk, makes the mix too sweet, so this is perfect to use up jam, lemon curd etc. Well worth trying with the value stuff too to keep the price down
Ingredients
Rhubarb Ice Cream
- ½ tin condensed milk £1.05 for a tin, 55p
- 5 sticks rhubarb small, 400g, Asda £1.50, £1.50
- 300 g yogurt Asda 45p/500g, 27p
- 300 ml double cream Asda £1.05/300ml,
Instructions
- Chop your rhubarb up into small pieces and cook on the hob without any water until it is really soft and mushy.
- Go gently to start with, we don’t want it to stick. You don’t want any water as rhubarb releases a lot of juice on its own. Leave the rhubarb to cool.
- Beat the cream to stiff peaks.
- Now mix the half tin of condensed milk, the yogurt and whipped cream together.
- Once the rhubarb has cooled, mix that in too.
- Now just pile it into a box and put in the freezer for two or three hours and wait impatiently for it to freeze.
- Delicious just as it is, perhaps enjoy a portion as a mousse before freezing the rest!
Equipment Needed
Notes
Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!
Nutrition
Ingredients
- ½ tin condensed milk £1.05 for a tin, 50p
- 60 g cocoa powder £1.99/250g, 48p
- 300 g yogurt value 45p/500g, 27p
- 300 ml double cream Asda £1.05/300ml
Instructions
- Beat the cream to stiff peaks.
- Mix the half tin of condensed milk with the yogurt and beat in the cocoa powder.
- Add the whipped cream.
- Pile it into a box and put in the freezer for two or three hours until frozen.
- The unfrozen mix, straight off the spoon, is wonderful and could be used as a mousse.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!
Nutrition
Take care of your family and your budget
Before putting together the meal planners, Lesley surveyed what was needed. Of the existing 14 budget meal plans, most are cheap meals for 2 people so can be sized up or down. Others are cheap family meals for 4 people, or meals for one
I’m still discovering new ones!
Hello Lesley, thanks for a great recipe- I used fresh apricots cooked to a puree and it worked really well. I’m looking forward to making many variations of this!
I did a pb and jam one, which was FABULOUS! I’ll def give white chocolate a go too https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThriftyLesley/search/?query=ice%20cream%20&epa=SEARCH_BOX
Just had another idea…what about peanut butter ice cream with white chocolate?! Yum. Okay, I’ll stop now… : – D
No, I haven’t, not yet. I’m thinking of doing more of a vanilla one. And maple and walnut, oh my!
Wow! What great ideas for different flavors.
Have you ever experimented with white chocolate in vanilla ice cream? Or, maple walnut ice cream is excellent, but it is not frugal if you use real maple syrup – but, it is wonderful.
Nico – I find it much too moreish, can’t make it too often!
Thank you for your quick answer, I’ll adapt the recipe – it is really great!
Nico – it’s been a while since I made the chocolate one, so can’t remember for sure the amount of cocoa I used, but Mike likes plain chocolate, so it will be flavoured to that level. If it is stronger than you want, add some more cream/yogurt. You can just leave it to defrost fully, and mix in some more, then refreeze. If you need to add a LOT more mix, you may need some more sweetening as well, so probably best to make up a whole mix, then add as much as you need to make it taste how you like
Hi Lesley,
tried and made the chocolate version this evening – are you sure about 60 g cocoa powder? My ice cream is much darker than yours in the photo, and the cocoa taste is quite strong… I’m sure I did everything right with the other ingredients. Just wondering.
sounds good, it’s a bit too quick and easy if you know what I mean!
Made a chocolate and vanilla version this morning. Delicious and so quick to do. Thank you.
Looks interesting, I’ll have a go at that I think, and I’ll cost it too to see what it works out to in the UK. If it costs up, I’ll add it to the resources here
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/10/moo-condensed-milk.html
Mooing is a recipe for making your own condensed milk – much cheaper than buying it!
Joy: Is this what you mean by Mooing? Link to http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/10/moo-condensed-milk.html
I’ve tried Googling and I still don’t know what that is! Although it does ring vague bells – give us a clue!
Lesley, have you tried MOOing your condensed milk,really easy and much cheaper,I put mine in the fridge in Tupperware and it lasts ages, and like the tin it’s always available.
I am so going to be buying condensed milk this week, then I will be doubling my walking, I still need to lose a little weight.