Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This delicious homemade cherry ice cream has sweet chocolate chips and makes the perfect summertime dessert.
A few years ago I purchased a Cuisinart ice cream maker to try our hand at homemade ice cream.
I've settled on two major takeaways from our experiment this week:
- Making homemade ice cream is time consuming for a fairly small batch of ice cream. Not difficult, but definitely messy.
- Homemade ice cream is ABSOLUTELY worth the effort.
We used fresh cherries to make a homemade roasted cherry chocolate chip ice cream that was absolutely To Die For.
Just when I thought I knew every fresh cherry recipe there was, the roasted cherries blew my mind.
The ice cream base was creamy, smooth, and delicious. Then I mixed in plump juicy roasted cherries, crunchy roasted almonds, and sweet chocolate chips for the perfect summer flavor.
Why This is the Best Recipe
We are huge ice cream fanatics but I think this is the best cherry chocolate chip ice cream recipe because:
- Real Fresh Cherries: Nothing artificial here, I started with the best fresh cherries ever. It takes just a few minutes to roast them which deepens their flavor and softens the texture.
- The Best Chocolate Chips: When you're making your own ice cream, you get to control the ingredients. Like milky chocolate chips? Choose Nestle. Like super dark chocolate chips? Choose Ghirardelli.
- Crispy Almonds: These add the perfect bit of crunch to the creamy ice cream.
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Ingredients
To make the homemade ice cream, you will need:
- Whole Milk
- Cream Cheese
- Heavy Cream
- Sugar
- Light Corn Syrup
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla Beans
- Roasted Cherries
- Roasted Almonds
- Chocolate Chips
Tools You'll Need
- Cuisinart ice cream maker
- Ice cream containers for storing: We love these white paper cups but this reusable one would be awesome, too.
Roast the Fresh Cherries
The first step to homemade cherry ice cream is to prepare these easy roasted cherries so they are extra concentrated.
Roasted cherries have a deeper flavor and a better texture when you eat your final batch of ice cream.
This only takes a few minutes and is worth the extra step.
Rinse and dry 2 cups of fresh cherries. Remove the stems and pits. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a 9x9 glass baking dish, toss the cherries with 2/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
The roasted cherries become extra concentrated in flavor and the sauce is thick and sweet.
Just by itself the sauce would make an amazing ice cream topping if you wanted to stop here and just use some vanilla ice cream from the grocery store.
But I highly recommend you keep going . . .
Make the Vanilla Ice Cream
Prepare an ice bath:
Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. This will help to chill the ice cream before using.
Dissolve the cornstarch:
Combine the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl. This will prevent lumps.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and set aside.
In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean and seeds, and stir them together.
Over moderate heat, bring it gently to a boil so the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the reserved cornstarch mixture and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about a minute more.
Slowly whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese until everything is smooth.
Add the salt and whisk it in.
Set the mixing bowl into your prepared ice water bath. Stir the mixture occasionally until it is chilled, about 20 minutes.
Strain the ice cream base into your ice cream maker.
Add the Mix-Ins
Finally, add the roasted cherry mixture, 1/2 cup of roasted almond slices, and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and let the ice cream machine stir them to combine for 2-3 minutes.
More Ice Cream Recipes
If you love ice cream as much as we do, you won't want to miss our 20 ice cream sundae recipes. My all-time favorite is the ultimate turtle sundae.
This Kool aid ice cream or my sweet firecracker popsicles would both be so fun to make with the kids.
Or if you're looking for another fruity flavor, this homemade strawberry ice cream would be a hit.
For the grown-ups, you might have fun making this homemade matcha ice cream recipe for something different.
You could even use this cherry ice cream to make this chocolate milkshake recipe with a cherry twist.
📖 Recipe
Roasted Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 vanilla beans split and seeds scraped
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
For the Roasted Cherries
- 2 cups pitted fresh cherries can be completely fresh or can be used directly from frozen
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Mix-ins for the Ice Cream
- 1/2 cup roasted almond slices
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
Roast the Cherries:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Stir together the cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a square baking dish. Roast for 30 - 40 minutes or until the juices are thickened and bubbly. Be sure to stir every 15 minutes so they don't burn. Cool completely and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before using in the ice cream recipe.
Prepare the Ice Cream Base:
- Prepare an ice bath: Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. This will help to chill the ice cream before using.
- Dissolve the cornstarch: Take 2 tbsp of the milk and combine it with the cornstarch in a small bowl. This will prevent lumps.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean and seeds, and stir them together. Over moderate heat, bring it gently to a boil so the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the reserved cornstarch mixture and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about a minute more.
- Slowly whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese until everything is smooth. Add the salt and whisk it in. Set the mixing bowl into your prepared ice water bath. Stir the mixture occasionally until it is chilled, about 20 minutes.
- Strain the ice cream base into your ice cream maker.
Finish the ice cream:
- Following the instructions for your ice cream maker, add the reserved roasted cherries, almonds, and chocolate chips during the mix-in phase of the machine's cycle.
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