Description
This No-Churn Amaretto Cherry & Dark Chocolate Ice Cream tastes like the best chocolate-covered cherry ever! It’s sweet, creamy, a touch boozy and you’d never know that it wasn’t made with an ice cream machine. No tempering eggs, straining, or melting sugar involved in this one. The hardest part is waiting for it to freeze!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cherries:
- 1½ cups fresh cherries, pitted
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur (see NOTE)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the Ice Cream:
- 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
- 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur (see NOTE)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- Pinch of salt
- The cherries
- 4 oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped
- Additional fresh cherries, for serving (optional)
- Hot fudge sauce or chocolate syrup, for serving (optional)
Instructions
For the Cherries:
- Place the ingredients in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cherries are very soft and juicy.
- Cool to room temperature.
For the Ice Cream:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, amaretto, vanilla, and salt.
- In another bowl (using a stand/handheld mixer), whip the cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped cream, in batches, into the sweetened condensed milk base. Fold gently, being careful to not deflate the air from the cream as much as possible. This is what gives your ice cream a churned texture without having to use an ice cream maker.
- Gently fold in the cherries and grated dark chocolate.
- Line a baking dish or loaf pan with parchment paper and gently scoop the ice cream base into the pan, smoothing out the top.
- Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours (6-8 hours is ideal!).
- To serve, let ice cream sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly and then scoop into bowls or cones and enjoy drizzled with hot fudge sauce and fresh cherries, as desired.
Notes
The amaretto is completely optional in this recipe. If omitting, add ½ teaspoon almond extract to the ice cream base in addition to the vanilla OR just use vanilla! Whatever you prefer.
- Prep Time: 4 hours 30 minutes (mostly inactive freezing time)
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: dessert