Making ice cream without an ice cream maker? Try one of these 4 methods

Focaccia art, Dalgona coffee or pancake cereal: we see numerous kitchen trends popping up that have everything to do with quarantine and the extra time we have to kill. Making your own ice cream also complements that list nicely. And nope, you don’t necessarily have to have a gigantic ice cream maker at home.

4 ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker

1) In a preserving jar

If you are blessed with a portion of strong arm muscles, you can simply make your ice cream in a jar. How exactly does that work?

Take a preserving jar containing 250 ml of fresh whipped cream, 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Close tightly and shake for about 5 minutes (or until the cream has the thickness of brownie batter). Put in the freezer for 3 hours and tada! 3 portions of homemade ice cream are now yours.

Of course you can also vary with this recipe, for example by adding a spoonful of peanut butter or a handful of berries.

2) In a zip lock pouch

Those plastic bags with such a sliding zipper system also turn out to be very suitable for making ice cream, Chrissy Teigen shows in one of her videos. The principle is that you fill a smaller bag with your ice cream mix and put it in a larger bag filled with ice cubes and salt.

For example, you fill the small bag with 250 ml of fresh whipped cream, 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract and 5 crunchy cookies (e.g. Oreos).

Then seal the bag (remove as much air as possible) and then place it in a larger bag, filled with ice cubes and Himalayan salt.

Close and… shake it! After about 10 minutes you have your own homemade ice cream, which doesn’t even have to be frozen before you can eat it.

Chrissie Teigen shows it off in this video:

3. Based on frozen bananas

Do you have some overripe bananas lying around? Don’t throw them away, but peel them, cut them into pieces and freeze them. If they have been in the freezer for at least 4 hours, you can let them thaw for fifteen minutes and mix them in the food processor or with the hand blender.

This is by definition not ice cream, but the ice cream tastes incredibly creamy, thanks to the bananas. Also delicious with some cardamom powder, with salted caramel or a spoonful of peanut butter through it!

4. With a standing mixer

Finally, you can also work with a standing (or a hand mixer with a whisk element). We found that idea with Nigella Lawson. In principle, you only need 3 ingredients: 80 grams of condensed milk, 500 ml of fresh whipped cream and 2 tablespoons of whiskey or another strong drink.

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl for 10 minutes, until creamy and increased in volume. Now leave in the freezer for at least 6 hours et voila: homemade ice cream!

More with ice cream?