We felt like having some ice cream, so we made it with condensed milk! To make the little ones happy at home or to spend some carefree time and enjoy a good homemade gelato watching (yet another) movie. Usually, recipes for homemade gelato are not usually easy to make without an ice cream maker, but this one? We’ve bypassed every obstacle. Shall we try it together?
Easy homemade Italian gelato: the ingredients
Is it possible to make an ice cream with two ingredients? Yes – if you follow our easy recipe! To prepare this homemade gelato, you just need condensed milk and fresh cream! This is how to make a homemade ice cream without the ice cream maker.
Condensed milk and cream: the quantities
You’ll need 250 grams condensed milk and 500 grams fresh cream. You can vary the quantities according to your needs, but always maintain this ratio. For the recipe of homemade gelato with condensed milk, you will always need one portion of condensed milk and two portions of fresh cream. For the recipe to work well, work them while they are very cold!
Homemade gelato: the process
Take a bowl that you have cooled in the refrigerator (preferably glass or steel) and whip the cream using an electric mixer. Once whipped, gently add the condensed milk to the mixture with a spatula and take care not to remove the cream.
Ice cream without the ice cream maker
Now our homemade gelato is ready to cool in the freezer for 4 and a half hours before being served. To make sure it does not absorb the odors of other foods, cover the bowl with plastic wrap. For a creamier result, work it with a spatula every half hour after 3 hours. Condensed milk allows us to prepare a gelato without an ice cream maker thanks to its creaminess and the fat it contains. If we used the ingredients of the classic recipe, our homemade ice cream would freeze!
The chocolate variant
The condensed milk ice cream we have prepared can be enriched with cocoa powder to create an effect similar to that of chocolate ice cream. If you love the intense taste of dark chocolate, we suggest choosing unsweetened cocoa to correct the sweetness of cream and condensed milk. To prevent it from forming lumps, work it with condensed milk before adding it to the cream.
Stracciatella
If you love stracciatella gelato, add chocolate flakes to the mixture once three hours have passed in the freezer. Adding it at this point, you don’t risk melting it and we'll get a pleasant crunchy effect!
Homemade fruit ice cream
To turn this basic recipe into a tasty fruit ice cream, choose the fruit you prefer and reduce it to a purée using a blender. If the mixture is watery, add it to some water and sugar until it forms a sort of compote. Let it cool and transfer to the freezer for about ten minutes before adding it to the mixture after two hours of cooling. This step will not be necessary with very creamy fruits like bananas and mango!