Remember when I mentioned yesterday that you should save a few of those Red Velvet Cupcakes? Well, now you know why!
Yesterday, I told you about my husband’s love of red velvet cake. Secretly, I’m convinced that he really just likes the cream cheese frosting. So, knowing what you do now, you can surely understand how excited he was to discover red velvet cake ice cream at a local ice cream shop last summer. He’s been talking about it ever since.
To him, it is the holy grail of ice cream, and he has been searching high and low for it every time we go out for ice cream. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a real popular flavor, and it’s only available at one local ice cream shop that we’ve found. That would be all fine and well, except that we don’t really like said ice cream shop all that much. I won’t go into details, but I prefer to avoid it, if at all possible.
So, to avoid having to go out to the dreaded ice cream parlor every time my hubby wants some red velvet ice cream (at least once a week), I decided that I would take matters into my own hands… Or, perhaps I should say, into my own kitchen.
This ice cream is easy to make (especially if you have some leftover cupcakes on hand!)… It’s based on my standard custard recipe, and I have added cream cheese to give it that extra cream cheese frosting flavor. The result is a rich and creamy ice cream with all of the flavor of red velvet cake.
My husband has reqeuested that this recipe go straight to the Husband’s Picks page… And, you can be sure that we won’t be visiting that ice cream parlor again any time soon!
Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream
(Makes about 1.5 quarts)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 red velvet cupcakes (with icing)
Combine the heavy cream and milk in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, but do not allow the mixture to boil.
Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is light and lemony in color. Add the cream cheese, and beat until the mixture is smooth. While mixing, gradually add in about 1 cup of the hot cream. This will temper the eggs so that they do not scramble.
Then, add the tempered egg and cream cheese mixture to the sauce pan, and continue to cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Allow the ice cream base to cool slightly, then cover with plastic wrap (pressing the plastic wrap against the surface of the custard), and refrigerate until cold (at least 2 hours). Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s directions.
While the ice cream base is freezing, unwrap the cupcakes, and place them in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to smash the cupcakes and mix the crumbs with the icing. Once the ice cream base has frozen (it will be the consistency of soft serve ice cream), transfer it to the mixing bowl, and quickly fold the cupcake crumbs into the ice cream. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for a few hours to let it harden to hard serve consistency.
If the ice cream is too hard to scoop, allow it to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes prior to serving.
I *love* cake-based ice creams. This one is pretty to boot. I think this would be super awesome topped with a sweet cream-cheese based sauce :).
GENIUS!!!
O.M.G Jen. This is heavenly!!!
I’ve been lusting after an ice cream maker – and you’ve given me the justification for finally buying it. Looks wonderful. I want a scoop. Or seven.
You are so smart! Looks wonderful. (bet Yellowdog loves it too)
can I move next door?! oh seriously! I MUST try this over the summer! thanks Jen
mmm..this looks amazing! what a perfect use for leftover cake! :)
Oh my geez, this looks amazing! I’m pinning it, just got my first ice cream maker…may try this! Thanks, Jen. Hope you’re recovering well.
Oh my heavenly goodness… what a GREAT idea for ice cream!
I am ALL over this.
That looks delicious! What a great idea…I’ll definitely be trying this one soon.
OK, you just took ice cream to a whole other level…..love this!! My kids would go crazy for this :)
perfect! i absolutely love this. the local ice cream and frozen yogurt shops around town have been featuring this red velvet flavor but I doubt they would even come close to this divinity!
well done!
-Leila
PRINT! PRINT! PRINT! We are soooo making this ice cream. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh. My. Gosh! This is a brilliant idea Jen!!!
looks great. I will have to try this! there is a local frozen yogurt shop that sells red velvet soft serve, it’s really yummy :)
Posted to Pinterest under Food I Drool Over – Wow – this is beautiful. Definitely worth breaking out my ice cream attachment for it this weekend :)
Thank you!
Oh.My.Goodness!! but that looks amazing!! Cake IN the ice cream!!! LOVE IT!!
What an awesome idea Jen! I’ve never seen red velvet cake ice cream at any of the shops by me so it would have to be a homemade treat. Can’t wait to try it this summer!
I know for certain the reason my husband likes my red velvet cake – it’s all about the cream cheese frosting! This looks like awesome ice cream – I’ll have to try it the next time I make red velvet!
A little cake with my ice cream? YES please!
This looks insanely delicious! Ben & Jerry’s has a new Red Velvet flavor that is very tasty if you don’t feel like going through all that ice cream-making effort…but next time I have red velvet cupcakes I’m definitely making this with the leftovers!!
I think I’d make red velvet cupcakes JUST for an excuse to make this ice cream (actually, who am I kidding, I love any excuse for red velvet cake).
Oh my goodness, this looks insanely brilliant! I really need to dust off my ice cream maker and get to work!
wow, that is amazing
Whoa. This sounds phenomenal.
Oh wow! Seriously, recipes like this make me not want to be vegan :) Seriously, this looks so amazing! It would probably be hard and fairly expensive to veganize this, but it’s going into my “to have for a very, very special occasion” list :)
Sonic had Red Velvet ice cream sundaes around Valentine’s Day. It was squares of cake, ice cream and whipped cream and delicious! Yours looks equally scrumptuous. Thanks.
This is truly amazing. I haven’t made ice cream in years, but I will be making this during the summer (it’s rainy and cold today!). What a wonderful idea… but then I have to have ‘leftover cupcakes or cake.. doesn’t happen much around here. Will need to hide the cupcakes :-)
Oh my goodness Jen… It’s like you created my dream ice cream!!!
Looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe. Now I am curious why you don’t like that ice cream parlor!
Amanda – Ha! I used to work at an ice cream parlor, so I’m pretty critical… But, one time their cones were kind of stale and their portion sizes are not very consistent. Plus, it’s expensive. Three strikes, they’re out! :)
Oh yum. That looks soo good. Great idea, though I can never manage any leftover cupcakes :(
I’m with Lauren. I’d make red velvet cupcakes just to have a reason to make this ice cream. I had to stop myself from licking the screen! (just kidding…)
That looks sooo good! Mixing the cupcakes WITH the frosting? Genius. Thanks for sharing with us :) I have to make this one soon…
I can see myself AND my husband going nuts over this too. What a great idea Jen.
OMG. That’s all I have to say.
how would you make this if you do not have ice cream machine. looks so yummy. want to try. thanks
Pam – I haven’t tried making ice cream without the machine, but I have heard that others had great results with this method from David Lebovitz. Good luck!
I used leftover carrot cake cupcakes instead and received rave reviews!!!! Must try!!
What an ingenious idea! Perfect for my 7 y.o. daughter’s new ice cream maker :) but really for me
It looks super good! Anyways, did you need a special ice-cream machine maker?
Hi, Mar – Yes, I did use an ice cream maker to make the ice cream. You could make it without the ice cream maker and simply stir it every few hours as it freezes, but the texture won’t be quite as good.