No Churn Ice Cream Cake
Hello again! This is Ryan stepping in for one more guest entry! In the past we’ve done some stovetop mac and cheese, but my last entry was some no knead cinnamon rolls and I was inspired to brainstorm some other ideas for dessert items that normally need a specialty machine of some kind. No churn ice cream cake jumped out at me as the obvious choice, as we head into the summer months!
Semifreddo (No Churn Ice Cream)
Full disclosure: we’re not making the “dictionary definition” of ice cream in this recipe–instead we’re making a frozen mousse known as semifreddo. The good news is that if you do it right, nobody will be able to tell the difference! And while you won’t need an ice cream machine for this one, I do recommend using a mechanical mixer of some kind (unless your whisking arm does more cardio than mine!).
The Three-Bowl Method
For this recipe, we’ll be separating a lot of eggs, and we want to keep those egg whites free of any yolk because we will be whipping them to meringue! That’s why I recommend the three-bowl method. Crack your full egg into bowl one, pull the yolk out and put it into bowl two, then dump your whites into bowl three. This way if something goes sideways and you break a yolk, you lose one egg and not your entire bowl of whites! (I’ve done this–it’s frustrating!)
La Bain-Marie (The double boiler)
Once you’ve gotten your ingredients together for your no machine ice cream, set up your double boiler like you see in the photo below. While your water is coming to a boil, whisk your eggs and sugar together until it gets really thick and creamy (the ribbon stage, if you want to get technical). Then you’re going to whip this over the water so that the eggs warm up and cook without curdling. If you think they’re getting too warm, don’t forget you can take the bowl off the water to control the temperature! You can also add a teaspoon of flavoring and a few drops of gel dye here to start building your finished product.
Meringue and Whipped Cream
Next we’re whipping the meringue. Make sure you clean your beaters! Any egg yolk gets in those whites and they won’t aerate! To make meringue, whip them until they start to get kinda frothy but aren’t quite to peaks yet, then start sprinkling your sugar in a tablespoon or so at a time until it’s all incorporated. Sugar is heavy, so if you add it in all at once it could hamstring your meringue and keep it from fluffing up. Before you reach your final stiff peaks stage, add in any coloring and flavoring. Repeat the process for your whipped cream, being careful on both not to overwhip so you don’t wind up with broken styrfoam (overwhipped meringue) or watery butter (overwhipped cream).
You Gotta Know When to Foldem….
All your components are ready! Take about half of your meringue and fold it into your base egg yolks. At this stage you can be a little rough with the meringue because you’re “sacrificing” it in order to sort of loosen up your egg yolks and make them fluffier. Then you fold in the rest of the meringue. Repeat the process with the whipped cream, adding it in halves. If you’ve used any dye, the color of the semifreddo should be pretty uniform–no white streaks or blobs!
To Mold or Not to Mold…
For my project, since I was making an ice cream cake, I lined a springform pan with tinfoil and parchment paper, but I’ll be honest that’s not the best way to do this. If you use a mold, line it with plastic wrap instead and save yourself the sleepless nights I had wondering how my cake would turn out!
That said, there’s no requirement to mold. You can put this in bowls or ramekins and freeze individually for single-serving ice cream, or you can put them in a bread pan to make an ice cream loaf. This stuff is super versatile, so use your imagination! Just be sure to give it at least 6 hours (overnight is better!) to allow it to fully freeze.
But you said no churn ice cream cake…
For multiple layers like I did, do your semifreddo in batches. So for example, I did the green layer on Sunday, froze it overnight, then did the yellow layer on Wednesday. I froze it for about an hour and then set the shortbread base into it and froze it overnight. Then in turned the entire thing upside down on my cutting board, and now my shortbread is on the bottom!
Seriously, this is a lot of fun, and with summer coming up it’s a delicious project to teach the kidders about meringue! Give it a try and let us know what you think!
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No Churn Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients
1 Layer of Semifreddo (No Churn Ice Cream)
- 4 eggs separated
- 1/2 cup sugar separated into two 1/4 cup portions
- 3 tbsp sugar (for heavy cream)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tsp flavoring extract or oil
Shortbread Base (Optional)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup AP flour
Instructions
- Whisk yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until thick and creamy (ribbon stage) then continue whisking over a double boiler until fully warmed through. Add 1 tsp flavoring.
- Clean beaters. In separate bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy, then sprinkle in remaining 1/4 cup sugar gradually while whisking, until fully incorporated. Add 1/2 tsp flavoring and continue mixing until you reach stiff peaks.
- In another separate bowl, whisk cold heavy cream until thickened. Add remaining 3 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp flavoring, continue mixing until you reach stiff peaks.
- Fold meringue (egg white mixture) into base (egg yolk mixture) in two portions. Repeat with heavy cream, until fully incorporated with no white streaks. Pour into bowls, springform pan, or plastic-lined mold, place in freezer.
- Repeat steps 1-4 for each new layer of semifreddo you want to add to cake, flavoring and coloring as desired. Pour each new semifreddo layer onto previously frozen layer, to create separate layers/flavors/colors.
- For shortbread base, melt butter and add to the rest of the ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated. Shape into a large disk about an inch smaller than your mold. Dock with fork like you would with a pie crust. Baking at 400 until golden brown. Allow to come to room temperature, depan, wrap in plastic and freeze.
- Freeze top layer (if doing more than one) semifreddo mixture for about 1 hour, then press the frozen shortbread disk into the surface. Smooth edges with spatula or butter knife, then freeze overnight.
I absolutely love the three bowl tip! Sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try this!
I’m so glad you found that tip helpful! I hope you have some fun with this and let us know how it goes! 🙂
Even though I’m not a fan of meringue I want to try this sometime!
It’s a fun recipe to try! Plus – don’t worry, the meringue is just to add the airyness, you won’t actually taste it 😉
Hmm .. I just might have to try this !
Ida, I hope you let us know what flavor you try! Enjoy!