Super easy Homemade Ube Ice Cream, no ice cream maker needed!

No ice cream maker? No problem! You can easily make this Pinoy favorite at home. This no-churn ube ice cream can be made in a jiffy, and it tastes so good!

I really must credit the sorbeteros for starting my love affair with avocado and queso and ube ice cream.  When I was a kid, I remember often being on the lookout for ice cream carts passing by my school during recess. The smart manong sorbeteros would park just below the classroom windows on the ground floor, where we could reach through the railed windows for our orders. I remember vividly how hands would reach out of the window and come back in with cones piled high with differently colored scoops.

Technically, we weren’t allowed to be buying stuff through the windows; but I’ve always felt that the occasional trouble was worth the prize. Every time a teacher came over to reprimand us, we’d simply find another window in another classroom to do our ice cream transactions. Gosh was life simple back then! All it took to make me smile was a big lump of purple ube ice cream staring back at me atop a cone.

I learned to appreciate ube since I was young, so I knew when I came across this recipe that I would be making it. Out of the typical Pinoy sorbetes flavors you can find from the mobile ice cream sellers, I’ve already made Cheese Ice Cream and Avocado Ice Cream. I haven’t tested any no-churn versions of these flavors yet so the recipes I have on the blog at the moment will require an ice cream maker to accomplish, but this recipe for Ube Ice Cream does not. I do highly suggest using a electric hand or stand mixer though, just to make whipping the cream much easier.

This recipe pleasantly surprised me. I’ve tried no-churn ice creams before and they’d often be overly sweet and not creamy at all, but this ube ice cream was incredible. I knew the moment I’d gotten that fluffy base down that the resulting ice cream would be creamy AF, yet I wasn’t expecting it to be this close to a churned version. It was such a DREAM to scoop out. The ube ice cream was gliding on the surface, rolling into perfectly balled scoops.

Each mouthful was a delight, you guys. This is the type of classic Pinoy ice cream that would go perfectly with a hot piece of pandesal!

This was admittedly a bit sweeter than I would’ve preferred, but what can you expect with an ice cream base that has condensed milk in it? You can of course adjust the amount of condensed milk, but do not omit it or else your ice cream will have no structure. Another work-around I did was throw in some savory shredded cheese to balance out the sweet. I didn’t incorporate it into the ube ice cream base because I preferred a non-frozen cheese topping for this. Can’t say I regret the decision!

Recipe notes

So this recipe needs exactly five ingredients. If you live in the Philippines, it shouldn’t be hard for you to acquire the purple yam things you need for this recipe. The flavoring is easily found in the baking aisle; and I like to use the McCormick brand because it has a nice color and scent. As for the ube jam or ube halaya, you can use your favorite brand. My personal favorite is Bahay Pastulan‘s delicious ube jam, and since I already wrote about it previously, you can just click the link below to know more about it.

[READ ALSO: Ube Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting Recipe]

No-churn recipes are simple in that there are really only two main steps. First, whip your cream into stiff peaks. In the recipe box below, I included an instruction about chilling your bowl and mixer attachment before whipping the cream. This part is optional but because it is so hot in the Philippines right now, I feel that this helps a lot in making my cream whip up beautifully into stiff peaks. In another bowl is where you add all the flavorings into the condensed milk before putting the two together.

When you start to fold your cream into the ube-flavored condensed milk base, you want to first take a little bit of the cream and quickly work it into the condensed milk to loosen the mixture up. This will make it a lot easier for you to fold in the rest of the whipped cream with the minimal amount of strokes.

The key here is to be able to fold in the whipped cream without deflating the entire mixture. Obviously, overmixing will not help. What you want to end up with is something fluffy and airy, like this:

Once your airy mixture is ready, transfer it to your ice cream container. In this case, I used a large loaf pan. Before freezing, make sure to press a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface of the ice cream to keep giant ice crystals from forming on top. Now all you need to do is freeze the ice cream overnight. Depending on how cold your freezer is, you could probably get away with 6 hours. I just always leave it in overnight to make sure it sets fully.

The moment you take out your scooper and get into the ice cream, you will see that even if it’s straight from the freezer, it is just the right amount of frozen without being rock solid. As you scoop, you can feel right away how creamy the ice cream is as it rolls back in on itself. I mean, that looks like beautiful store-bought ube ice cream, doesn’t it? Dare I say, even better!

I have this habit of eating ube ice cream with cheese, so I topped mine with some shredded cheddar cheese. This ice cream may be on the sweet side, but it still delivers a creamy and satisfying ube taste. Add cheese into the mix and it becomes a real winner! In fact, I recommend making an ice cream sandwich out of this using pandesal or a mini burger bun. Place some strips of cheese onto the bread, then add scoops of ice cream on top. Enjoy on a hot summer afternoon!

I think something this easy and this good is simply perfection.

Print Pin Email

Share on Facebook

No-Churn Ube Ice Cream

An incredibly easy way to make the Pinoy favorite ube ice cream. No ice cream maker needed to make this creamy treat!

Makes about 1 liter

Ingredients

• 500 ml cold heavy cream
• 200 to 300 ml condensed milk, depending on how sweet you like your ice cream
• 150 grams ube halaya or ube jam
• 20 ml ube flavoring, I use McCormick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• 1. Before starting, place a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer with the respective attachments in the fridge or freezer for at least 20 minutes. Whip the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks using your cold equipment.
• 
• 2. In another large bowl, stir together condensed milk, ube jam, ube flavoring, and vanilla. Take a generous dollop of stiff whipped cream and fold into the condensed milk-ube mixture to lighten.
• 
• 3. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until fully combined, taking care not to go overboard with the mixing to avoid deflating the mixture. You should get a fluffy and airy mixture.
• 
• 4. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and cover with cling wrap. Make sure to gently press the cling wrap against the surface of the ice cream base to keep ice crystals from forming on top.
• 
• 5. Freeze overnight. It should be creamy and smooth when you scoop it out the next day.

Notes

Adapted from The Unlikely Baker blog

Enjoyed this post? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for more. If you try this recipe, don’t forget to tag me! 😉