No-Cook Jam and Buttermilk Ice Cream

 

This No-Cook Jam Buttermilk Ice Cream was inspired – as many of my recipes are – by craving some ice cream, not having any in the house, and by being too lazy to leave the house to go get some. And by what was available in my fridge and freezer.  You were expecting something nostalgic, maybe?

I’ll admit it – I’m not a big fan of the super-premium ice creams. For me, the flavor is undercut by what I can only describe as kind of a waxy feeling on my lips. I hardly ever wear lipstick, either. I just don’t care for the sensation. All the heavy cream and eggs may be “premium”, but I’m afraid that it’s lost on me.  So, I added a bit of my own Freakin’ Flamingo® jam to enrich the creaminess of the texture without adding any fat!

No-Cook Jam and Buttermilk Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup light (or single) cream or half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced and frozen (or other fruit of your choice)
• 4 Tbs. Freakin’ Flamingo® Strawberry Vanilla Jam (or other complementary favorite flavor)
• Pinch of table salt
• Special equipment: small food processor and ice cream maker

Preparation:

If your ice cream maker has a separate core that needs to be frozen, put it into your freezer well ahead of time. Personally, mine lives in my freezer 24/7, this time of year.

Whisk together the buttermilk, cream, and sugar. In a small food processor, combine the strawberries and jam. Whisk the strawberry mixture into the buttermilk mixture.

Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the ice cream base into it while it’s running.  Process until it’s the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. This takes about 20 minutes in my old Krups ice cream maker. Turn it out into freezer containers, cover tightly, and freeze for an additional minimum 2 hours or more.

Yields 2 quarts.

Notes:

I use my electric hand blender / immersion blender and its attachments (the chopper processor and the whisk attachment on lowest speed) to do all the work. If you don’t have one, you should get one. It’s the single most-used tool in my kitchen, except for spoons and knives!

If your ice cream maker holds only 1 quart, you can either halve the recipe, or run it in two batches. It comes together so quickly, you shouldn’t even have to re-freeze the ice cream maker core.

I think you’ll love the simplicity and easy way this ice cream comes together. And, because all of the ingredients are already cold, you don’t have to chill the base before putting it through the ice cream maker! That cuts at least 2-3 hours off of your wait time to dig in! Score!

“But I don’t want to wait 2 hours for it to firm up in the freezer!” Fine, Little Miss (or Mr.) Instant Gratification. Be that way. (I love you!)  Here’s a secret:  After running it through the ice cream maker, just pour it into tall glasses (or what I call “grown-up sippy cups”), stick in a straw, and get ready to have one of the best milkshakes you’ve ever had! 😉

Even my husband, who is not normally a huge strawberry ice cream fan, loves this version.  The slight tang from the buttermilk makes it refreshing, while adding another dimension of flavor to the fruit. It’s sweet and creamy enough to satisfy the dessert-freaks, but light enough that you can still feel good about serving it to your family and friends. Give it a try!