Ice box ice cream is very simple to make. It doesn’t take an ice cream freezer. Just beat, mix, and freeze. Because it is so easy, it makes a great, casual, summertime dessert. Here’s how to make it:
1. Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form.
2. Mix in the liquid ingredients.
3. Fold in any fruit, nuts, or candy.
4. Pour it into a one-quart pan or baking dish and freeze.
That’s all there is to it.
There are some recipes for ice box ice cream that ask you to stir the ice cream periodically as it is freezing. It certainly makes it fluffier but we don’t think it’s necessary and the beauty of this dessert is its mix-and-forget-it method.
This is a rich ice cream, richer than many of the ice creams that we buy in the store. It relies on whipped cream to incorporate the air into the mixture and give it structure. (It is important that you whip the cream until soft peaks form.) You cannot substitute milk for cream.
The fat in the cream gives the ice cream richness. It does not rely on gums as some ice creams do.
The sweetness in our recipes comes from the syrups and a bit of sweetened condensed milk. (When you consider the number of servings, there really isn’t that much sweetened condensed milk.) Though we haven’t tried it, we believe that you could use artificial sweeteners for all or part of the sweetener.