There's a reason vanilla always ranks so high year after year, and it's not because we have bland taste buds.
When you think about which ice cream is most often placed on a la mode desserts and gets blended into shakes, the rankings make sense. In eschewing the same-old, we looked for intrigue when we dove into this summer's ice cream cookbooks. We mulled the merits of savoury ingredients and appreciated how sweet treats can translate into creamy smoothness.
As always, we like to keep up with the newest ways to bypass the churning and do without the dairy.
No-Churn Peanut Butter Curry Ice Cream
(Serves 8-10)
This unexpected, sweet-with-heat combination of flavours is one of the richest-tasting no-churn ice creams we've tried. In testing, we cut back on the original amount of curry powder, which was 1 tablespoon.
Ingredients
400g can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup powdered peanut butter
1/4 cup dehydrated milk/powdered milk
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
Method
Pour the condensed milk into a large bowl.
Stir in the powdered peanut butter, milk powder, curry powder (to taste; see headnote) and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
Beat the heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon-whisk attachment or use a hand-held mixer.
Beat on medium-high speed for 5 to 7 minutes, to form stiff peaks.
Mix a few spoonfuls of the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture, then fold in the remaining whipped cream until fully incorporated. Do not over-mix.
Spoon the mixture into a container and freeze for at least 5 hours before serving.
Adapted from "Food52 Ice Cream and Friends: 60 Recipes and Riffs for Sorbets, Sandwiches, No-Churn Ice Creams, and More," by the editors of Food52 (Ten Speed Press, 2017).