This easy, no churn ice cream is perfect for your next Christmas celebration. Smooth, creamy and perfectly spiced with ribbons of fruit mince and crumbled gingerbread, this festive ice-cream is a wonderful way to end a Christmas meal. It is also a fantastic way to use up any Christmas dessert leftovers!

Scoop of festive ice cream in cocktail glass with gingerbread biscuits in background

I realise ice cream isn’t normally associated with Christmas. However if you live in the southern hemisphere where Christmas is in Summer, it can get hot – very HOT. This is why this festive ice cream is such a winner – it is both a cool treat AND full of festive cheer! That’s not to say it can’t be enjoyed in cooler weather – I assure you it goes beautifully with a steamed Christmas pudding.

This is by no means a traditional ice cream recipe – you do not need to make a crème anglaise and it does not need churning. To make the ice cream itself, you only need TWO ingredients – yes, you heard me correctly – thickened cream and sweetened condensed milk. You simply whisk the two together until you get an almost ethereal whipped cream before folding through fruit mince and crumbled gingerbread biscuits. You then pop it in the freezer until frozen – that’s it!

Scoop of festive ice cream in cocktail glass with Christmas decoration in background.

Why you will LOVE this Festive Ice Cream

It is SO simple to make: With minimal ingredients, this ice cream takes no time at all to whip up (quite literally). You will need a stand mixer or electric beaters to get the lightest ice cream.
It is the perfect way to use up Christmas leftovers: I always find myself with leftover fruit mince and ridiculous amounts of gingerbread (usually the remnants of the gingerbread house we make every year). I couldn’t think of a better way to use these leftovers than to repurpose them in another dessert!
You can easily adapt the recipe: If you didn’t have any fruit mince or gingerbread, you could use a whole range of other ‘festive’ mix-ins. Leftover Christmas cake or fruit mince tarts crumbled into pieces work beautifully as do crumbled shortbread biscuits with the addition of some mixed spice and ground ginger.

Close up photo of scoop of festive ice cream with gingerbread biscuit

What you will need

Equipment

You will need:
- a stand mixer or electric beaters; and
- a 1 litre freezer proof container (a 1 litre loaf tin is perfect).

Ingredients

Thickened Cream (Pouring/Whipping Cream): The cream is whipped until it is light and fluffy. You will need full fat cream that contains a minimum of 35% milk fat. It is best used cold and straight from the fridge.
Sweetened condensed milk: This is the star ingredient – in addition to providing all the sweetness to the ice cream, when whipped together with the cream it becomes light and luscious.
Fruit mince: You can use homemade or a good quality store-bought fruit mince.
Gingerbread biscuits: Homemade or store-bought gingerbread biscuits work perfectly. You can either crumble the biscuits by hand or use a knife to chop them into pieces. You could also substitute crumbled gingerbread loaf.

How to make this Festive Ice Cream

Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Add the sweetened condensed milk to the cream and continue whipping until light and creamy.
Fold through the fruit mince and crumbled gingerbread through the cream mixture.
Chill or freeze and then enjoy!

Festive Ice Cream

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

Author: Victoria
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: N/A
Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes (including chilling)
Category: Desserts

Print Recipe

Description

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup (250ml) thickened cream (pouring/whipping cream) (minimum 35% milk fat), cold
200g (half a tin) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup homemade or good-quality store-bought fruit mince
3/4 cup crumbled gingerbread biscuits

Instructions

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using electric beaters), add the cream and whisk until soft peaks form (approximately 2 to 3 minutes).
Add the sweetened condensed milk to the cream and continue whisking until the mixture becomes light and creamy (approximately 1 minute).
Using a spatula, fold through the fruit mince and crumbled gingerbread biscuits.
Pour into a 1 litre capacity freezer proof container and cover will a lid or clingfilm.
Freeze for 4 hours or until the mixture is frozen.
Take the ice cream out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving to allow it to softens slightly. Scoop into serving bowls or glasses and enjoy!

Notes

Storage: Store the ice cream in the freezer for up to two months.

Keywords: Ice cream, Christmas, No churn, gingerbread, fruit mince