No-Churn Tiramisu Ice Cream - Without condensed milk!

A homemade tiramisu ice cream. It's creamy and sweet with swirls of coffee syrup. It's a no churn ice cream without condensed milk.

My 10 year old was the inspiration behind this tiramisu ice cream recipe. He loves tiramisu (an alcohol-free version though) and when I made it for his birthday, I had a lot of the egg/mascarpone/cream mixture left. It was super thick and fluffy and I thought, hey I wonder how this would freeze.

Very well it turns out! It's smooth and creamy AND it's an ice cream made without an ice cream maker. I've got some other recipes for a no churn ice cream that does contain condensed milk, but I think it's good to have some options. So, I've written down the recipe for my tiramisu inspired ice cream.

The No-Churn Ice Cream Base

The ice cream consists of egg yolks, sugar, mascarpone cheese and whipped cream. There's a little bit of technical skill involved in the handling of the egg yolks and sugar, but it's very simple really.

The egg yolks and the sugar are whisked together and heated in a Bain Marie. A Bain Marie is essentially a hot water bath in which you cook food. A saucepan of simmering water works well as the bath. Over this you balance a bowl whatever you're cooking, in this case the egg yolks and sugar. This water bath keeps a nice even temperature and lessens the risk of burning or scrambling the eggs.

Keep whisking as the egg yolks heat up. The egg yolks will grow in volume and become thick and pale yellow. If you've used a fine grained sugar, like a castor sugar then the sugar will dissolve. If you've used regular granulated white sugar it may not, but don't worry it will dissolve later on as it's mixed with the other ingredients.

Once cooked, it's left to cool for a while before room temperature mascarpone cheese is folded in. Lastly, whipped cream is folded in, and that's the ice cream base done!

The Coffee Syrup

You really do need the coffee flavour in tiramisu. I didn't want to add it to the base of the ice cream though because I thought that may overpower the delicate mascarpone flavour. So I made a syrup instead.

The syrup is very simple, it's just a 1:1 ratio of coffee to sugar. This is simmered in a saucepan until the liquid has reduced by about two thirds.

Ensure you keep stirring it as it's reducing because it will bubble up a lot and will spill over if it's not watched. If it's bubbling too much, regularly take the pan off the heat so the bubbles settle before placing it back on.

Test that the syrup has reduced enough by dropping a small amount on a cold plate. Let it cool then run your finger through it. If it's thick and syrupy and leaves a line where your finger ran through it, then it's ready.

The Ice Cream Layers

Line a 450g (1lb) loaf tin with parchment paper and scoop in half the mascarpone mixture. Over this, drizzle half the coffee syrup. Use the back of a spoon or fork to swirl it in.

Scoop over the remaining mascarpone ice cream mixture, then swirl over the remaining coffee syrup.

Finish it off with chocolate shavings. Usually tiramisu has a generous dusting of dark cocoa on top, but I thought chocolate shavings would be a lot nicer over ice cream and still give that chocolate taste that the cocoa brings.

Serving

The ice cream needs at least 6 hours to freeze, but before serving let it sit at room temperature for 8-10 minutes to slightly soften it.

Unlike a real tiramisu, this recipe doesn't contain lady finger biscuits but we enjoy having some of those on the side! They add a bit of crunch too for a bit of texture (a crunchy texture is again unlike a real tiramisu, but I think it's a great addition.)

Have you made this? Tag me and let me know! @home_grown_happinessnz