Super Easy No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream

I love traditional egg-based ice creams, but I'm no purist.  I'm absolutely willing to try any crazy combination of ingredients and methods, as long as the end result is scrumptious.  And this one is!  And please, hold back any snooty-foodie, deriding-looks when I tell you the recipe is from Nigella Lawson's latest Nigellissima.  

Nigella's recipe calls for Illy Coffee Liqueur which I could not find anywhere, but per her website, a good substitute is Kahlua.  It seemed like overkill to buy a whole bottle when the recipe only called for a very small amount, so at midnight, I emailed my immediate neighbors to see if anyone had a bottle lying around from which I could decant 2 tablespoons.

First thing the next morning, checked my email.  No responses.  Ugh.  I wanted to make this ice cream for a dinner party that very night. (Good planning ahead, eh?)  Should I make it without the liqueur?  According to her website, one reason alcohol is included is to make the ice cream scoopable.  So I'm left wondering, if I don't include the Kahlua, will I have a hard as rock dessert?

Well, at some point, (actually 6 hours before consumption to freeze firm the ice cream), I had to decide.  On top of that, I realized I didn't have enough heavy cream.  I decided to go for it.  Throw caution to the wind. What's the worst that could happen?

I'm here to tell you, you don't need the alcohol - at least for the scoopability factor.  You may have other reasons why you'd like to include it.  The ice cream came out SO creamy and SO scoopable. And it was fine with the lesser amount of heavy cream.  Lot's of flexibility in this recipe.  And did I mention it doesn't require an ice cream maker?  So, go forth and make a bunch.  I doubled the recipe for you : )


Super Easy No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream
Adapted from Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson 
Makes approx 1 quart.

In a large bowl, combine:
1 - 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons instant espresso powder

Stir to dissolve the espresso powder.  You can also let it sit for a few minutes in between stirs if you don't want to do as much grunt work : )

In another large bowl, whip until soft peaks form:
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Drop one scoop of the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture and fold gently.  This will help to lighten the condensed milk mixture, so you won't lose as much air when you fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour the soft mixture into an air-tight, freezer-safe container.  Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.  Then serve and enjoy!

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