Homemade Gingerbread Ice Cream

Homemade Gingerbread Ice Cream ~ my latest ice cream obsession is bursting with the warm spicy flavor of the best gingerbread!

Every once in a while I create a recipe that surprises even me.  That’s the case with this amazing gingerbread ice cream.  I was expecting to love it because I love gingerbread, I love molasses, and I’ve made spiced ice creams before (they’ve been some of my very favorites!)  But this particular combination blew me away ~ it’s one of the most unique ice creams I’ve ever tasted, and every single person who I allowed to take a taste agreed.  I really really hope you try it before the season’s out, I think you’ll be as enchanted as I am.

The flavor of this gingerbread ice cream is so bold that you don’t need anything but a bowl and a spoon to enjoy it, but I can’t help fantasizing about topping it with a hot fudge or caramel sauce.  You can see I’ve already sandwiched it between gingersnap cookies for an extra special frozen treat, and I think it would be great as the base of a holiday affogato.  There are so many possibilities!

The recipe is a simple mix of heavy cream, lowfat milk, spices, sugar, and molasses, with just a touch of vanilla.  If I had to guess, it’s the molasses that makes the magic happen.

One interesting discovery is that the molasses in the mix kept the ice cream from freezing rock hard like most homemade ice creams do.  It froze to the perfect consistency and then stayed that way.  Love that!

Some of my all time favorite homemade ice creams are spice flavored, here are a few recipes to try ~

• CARDAMOM ICE CREAM
• NUTMEG ICE CREAM
• PUMPKIN SPICE ICE CREAM
• CHAI GELATO
• CINNAMON ICE CREAM
• MEXICAN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

I know when I’ve got a winning recipe when I can’t even look at the photos without my heart starting to beat a little faster.  Excuse me while I go make another pint…

Which ice cream machine do I recommend?

I get asked all the time about what machine I use. I use and recommend Cuisinart. I’ve had my machine for years without any issues, I think because there are no fussy electronic parts to break down ~ it’s a simple motor that turns the freezer bowl for churning the ice cream and it works quickly and perfectly every time.

• The machine I use, and it’s the base model. It works great for ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbets, and makes all of them in about 2o minutes. Click HERE or click on the image for more info.

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3.34 from 77 votes

Homemade Gingerbread Ice Cream

Course Christmas, Dessert, Fall, Favorites, Gingerbread, Gluten Free, Holidays, Ice Cream, Winter

Yield 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup low fat milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp molasses

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Stir long enough so that the sugar is dissolved and the molasses has been completely incorporated.
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to your machine's directions. For me the ice cream takes about 25 minutes.
• Turn the soft ice cream into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the freezer to firm up, this will take a minimum of 4-6 hours, or overnight.

Make it your own ~

• You can play with the spice combination a bit, but don’t leave out the molasses if you want this ice cream to taste like gingerbread.
• I’d be tempted to try a chocolate version…add cocoa powder along with the spices, or heat the cream mixture on the stove and add finely chopped chocolate, stir until everything is smooth.  Then chill the mixture thoroughly before processing.
• MAKE IT NO-CHURN ~ whip the heavy cream, and substitute sweetened condensed milk for the lowfat milk.  Eliminate or reduce the sugar, and blend everything together.  Pour it into a loaf pan and freeze until scoop-able.

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