There really is nothing as fresh and creamy as homemade ice cream. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost bought an ice cream maker. But I’ve always backed out at the last second, realizing that I’m never going to remember to put that churning bowl in the freezer 24 hours ahead of time. And I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the mood for ice cream, I kinda don’t want to wait a day and a half.
Luckily, this no-churn recipe — which I discovered one very late, very hot night last summer — takes just about 20 minutes and requires only a food processor (or sturdy blender). I call this “lazy ice cream” because it tends to come out more like an extra soft soft-serve than the classic, scoopable kind you’d get from a shop. But there is absolutely nothing half-hearted about the way it tastes. I’ve made lazy ice cream even when we already have store-bought ice cream in the house — it’s that good.
Lazy Ice Cream
Makes roughly 3 cups
1½-2 cups frozen fruit, like raspberries, blueberries or mango
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk (you’ll only use about half)
½-1 cup heavy cream
Gather your ingredients and set up the food processor. If you remember, stick the cream in the freezer while you’re putting the processor together. This isn’t mandatory, but it doesn’t hurt to have extra cold cream.
Pour your fruit into the processor and quickly drizzle the condensed milk on top, starting with only a couple tablespoons. Pour the cream in, starting with only half a cup. Now pulse! The mixture will come together pretty quickly, so watch it closely. Just as it’s starting to look uniform, pause for a taste. Does it need more cream? Add another quarter cup. Does it need more sweetening? Drizzle in another spoonful of condensed milk. Pulse again until everything is just combined, then taste and adjust as needed. You can do this one or two times, adding up to a cup of cream and about half a can of condensed milk. Any more than that and you’ll wind up with a very cold and delicious pudding — which is great, just not ice cream.
Serve immediately, and stash any leftovers in a rectangular container in the freezer. If you manage to leave any overnight, it will indeed be scoopable the next day!
Note: In my experience, this works best with frozen raspberries, blackberries, or mango — but work with what you have. The key is to start by dumping in all the fruit, then adding a little cream and condensed milk at a time.
Do you have a lazy-but-great recipe I can add to my roster? Bonus if it’s a cold one!
P.S. An elegant cantaloupe lemonade that takes five minutes, a three-ingredient tomato sandwich, and our vanilla ice-cream taste test.
