This Homemade Buttermint and White Chocolate Ice Cream is a delicious gourmet ice cream flavor. If you’ve ever tasted buttermints, they are creamy with a hint of peppermint– and, of course, butter! This ice cream flavor tastes just like them and it’s creamy, and the white chocolate kicks up the flavor to a higher level. The ice cream is silky, creamy and addictive. This is ice cream recipe doesn’t use eggs. Instead, it uses a few pantry staples to make a creamy ice cream. You do need an ice cream maker, though. Homemade ice cream is fun to make, and once you get the hang of it– your flavor combos are endless.
July 15th will be National Ice Cream Day, so I’m getting an early jump start. Truthfully, every day is a good day for ice cream– rain or shine.
I have posted five egg custard style ice cream recipes, since I started my blog. I give credit to David Lebovitz’s book, “The Perfect Scoop” for introducing me to egg custard style ice cream. It’s one of my favorites. This book remains one of my favorite places to find flavor inspirations.
But, wait! I have a new “favorite” reference book for ice cream– Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home. I’ve seen blog posts, that rave about Jeni’s Ice Cream. California is a long way from Ohio, so I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing them myself. My Reader’s Digest Condensed cookbook review is this– the majority of the ice cream flavors are completely out-of-the box! To name a few: Chamomile Chardonnay, Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry, Olive Oil with Sea-Salted Pepitas, Gorgonzola Dolce with Candied Walnuts. and Goat Cheese and Roasted Cherry.
Making your own ice cream isn’t as much hard work as you might think, especially if you buy an ice cream maker that doesn’t require ice and salt.. Creating your very own flavors is even more gratifying– as I’ve done with Lemon Curd Ice Cream, Pumpkin Pie Custard and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.
Jeni’s recipe doesn’t include eggs. Instead, she uses cream cheese, corn syrup and a cornstarch slurry. In her stores, she uses tapioca starch, but she says that cornstarch is a fine substitute and easier to find. She says that this prevents crystallization when the ice cream freezes.
I enjoyed reading about how Jeni arrived at her recipe, and I bookmarkedseveral flavors. The first one I made is this “Savannah Buttermint”flavor. Whenever I see the packaged mints at restaurants, I grab a
couple.
I love that buttery mint flavor, and how they dissolve in my mouth. That’s what this ice cream tastes like. I love white chocolate,so this would be the maiden voyage Jeni’s Ice Cream recipe for me!
Right out of the gate, I ran into on stumbling block– I didn’t have “natural butter flavor” nor “pure peppermint essential oil”. I did, however, have Loranns Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor and pure peppermint extract. That will have to do.
Tumeric is used to give the ice cream a soft, yellow color. (I keep turmeric to make yellow rice, and it’s a cheap substitute for saffron.)
The base uses whole milk, heavy cream, sugar and light corn syrup. (2 Tablespoons of the milk is whisked with cornstarch, and set aside.)
Bring the mixture to a rolling boil (and don’t walk away, like I did– the milk almost boiled over!) This is important– boil for four minutes. Then, remove from heat…
…then carefully pour the mixture into a 1-Gallon ZipLoc Freezer Bag and submerge the bag into an ice bath.
It takes about 30 minutes for the mixture to cool, as long as you use plenty of ice. I wonder if I could just put the hot mixture into the refrigerator? I’m not sure. I rarely stray from a recipe’s directions, the first time. I might test this, but today, I’m following directions.
I was disappointed to discover that in my vast collection of chocolates, I did not have a bar of white chocolate. I had to use white chocolate chips, and I don’t recommend that. You see, chips have an additive that makes melting them not very easy to do. Trust me, stick with chopping chocolate. I forged on, and did my best to melt it over a pot of simmering water. While I struggled with that…
…I grabbed the ice cream bowl from my freezer (I no longer use the ice & salt method), but off the corner of the chilled mixture and squeezed it into the ice cream maker– and let it churn. I added 1 Tablespoon of the Buttery Sweet Dough Butter Flavor and 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract… tasting and adding more, until 1 teaspoon seemed just right. (I didn’t want the peppermint to overpower the butter flavor.)
When you slowly drizzle melted chocolate into churning ice cream, it will break off into flecks. In my case, though, I got chunks. Ah well, I love white chocolate, so chunks will have to do.
I took about 25 minutes, before I could hear the ice cream machine slowing down. I took my first taste….
…and I did a Happy Dance! Creamy. Rich. Buttery. Slightly Minty. I got a taste of white chocolate.
I hid the ice cream way in the back of the freezer. The wait for the ice cream to freeze had begun…
The next day… the ice cream needs to sit out for about 15 minutes. It was firm, but not icy or rock hard. Amen. I loved the pretty light yellow color, too!
TASTING NOTES: You cannot distinguish the cream cheese flavor at all. What you taste is creamy ice cream, that has a velvety mouth feel, and it’s not super sweet. This ice cream flavor tastes just like buttermint! I love white chocolate. If you don’t, leave it out, and I think the flavor would still be great.
What perfect timing, when I spotted a recipe for “Funfetti Cookies“. I will post the recipe for these cookies, next, because you will want to make them. I had this idea that the cookies would be a perfect complement to the ice cream.
Buttermint Ice Cream with White Chocolate
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon
- 3 Tablespoons cream cheese softened
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/8 tsp turmeric easily found in the spice aisle
- 1 ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 3 ounces white chocolate chopped (don’t use chips, as they won’t melt properly)
- 8 drops natural butter flavor extract I used 1 Tbsp. Lorann's Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor, that I buy online at Amazon
Instructions
PREP:
- Whisk about 2 Tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch and set aside, to make a smooth slurry.
- Whisk the cream cheese, salt and turmeric in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Prepare an ice bath, in a large bowl with plenty of ice. Have a 1-gallon Ziploc Freezer Bag ready.
COOK:
- Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup in a 4-Quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes (this is important).
- Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil, over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened. About 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese, until smooth. Carefully pour the mixture into the ziploc bag and submerge the sealed bag into the ice bath. Let stand for about 30 minutes, until chilled, adding more ice if necessary.
FREEZE:
- When the ice cream is almost ready, melt the white chocolate in a double-boiler (or a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water–don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl).
- Carefully cut off a bottom corner of the ziploc bag and squeeze the mixture into the hole of the ice cream maker, while it is turned on. Drop the butter and mint flavor into the opening.
- Slowly drizzle the melted chocolate into the ice cream; it will form into chocolate flecks. Magic! Continue to churn the ice cream, according to your ice cream maker’s directions.
- Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment paper directly on top and seal with an air tight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer for at least four hours.
- To serve, allow to soften for about 15 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
i want to make coffee chocolate ship
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I still keep wanting to experiment with a tomato/basil sorbet. Your ice cream looks great. Hope to visit Jeni's again when I am in Ohio.
Oh my this looks so delicious – what great flavors –
Mary x
This is my very first comment here. I do love your blog! I am a plain vanilla girl. But I do love the best tasting vanilla, made from the very best ingredients.
Oh I wish it wasn't so foggy this morning, as your ice cream post has me tempted to pull out my machine and start churning! I'd like to try cherries and white chocolate, perhaps with a light touch of mint.
I just saw a cheesecake ice cream today.. I'd like to do Chocolate Cheesecake ice cream with a raspberry swirl.
How about carmel ice cream? Yum
I just made a Strawberry cheesecake milkshake that was Amazing but …..
How about chocolate with chocolate chunks and chopped peanut butter cups and butterscotch chips with a gooey caramel swirl Oh yea!!!
Liked your FB page !
Oh, I love the combination of chocolate ice cream with bananas. Thanks for the giveaway!!
I love the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, and would love to incorporate those flavors into an ice cream.
This looks lovely Debby. An ice cream maker is the one appliance I have yet to acquire…this post has definitely inspired me!
I love her ice cream! Some of the creamiest I've ever tasted! So far my favorite is the caramel.
I desperately need both that cookbook and this ice cream in my life! I see something chocolate peanut buttery in my ice cream future….
I'd make coffee ice cream with caramel swirl and chocolate chunks. YUM!
Chocolate with a salted caramel swirl!
I always wanted to combine these two ingredients but I don't have the liberty to try it anymore. I'm diabetic at 26.
cinnamon cornflake!
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Awesome Giveaway. I just got an ice cream maker a couple weeks ago and my hubby has been asking for mint-chocolate-chip, so that would be the flavor I would make.
I'm a follower on twitter and I tweeted the giveaway.
I'm a follower on Facebook.
I would dip potato chip bits in chocolate (to keep them crispy), caramel and fleur de sel. I would call it My P.M.S. ice cream.
Facebook Fan 🙂
Oh my goodness. This is amazing. My flavor would undoubtedly have peanut butter, chocolate, and pie crust. 🙂
I'd love to win this book. My flavor would have orange, rosemary, and honey.
I love ice cream! This book looks like alot of fun! One of my favorite flavors that I haven't tried making is chocolate peanut butter. Simple, but a favorite flavor combination.
Liked your fb page!
I am not eligible for the giveaway but Jenny's books does sound intriguing. My favourite ice cream is still salted caramel and perhaps I can throw some chocolate covered peanuts in there:D
I ate some buttermints at a retirement dinner the other night – what a great flavor for ice cream! Coffee ice cream is a favorite, so I'd have to start with that 🙂
I was just thinking about dusting off my ice cream maker and splurging on one of our favorite treats. Love the tips you have shared, Debby, and can't wait to try your cream cheese recipe. I haven't had a buttermint in years but remember how much I like them. Your lemon curd ice cream is one of my favorites. I just made the curd to spread on crepes with strawberries. So good.
Never heard of Jeni's. You have my attention. I got a copy of The Perfect Scoop for Christmas and haven't used it yet (just haven't had much time to make ice cream lately). Now I'm wondering if the gift was worthless. 😉
Ice cream has often contained cookies, brownies and all manner of candy. Has anyone considered doughnuts?
I hate to break the news to you… but I've been to Jeni's! I live in Columbus… in fact last week I had a sudden craving for their dark chocolate– very very close to Gelato from Italy!!! It's amazing! I'd love to win and start making some of the recipes at home! Anyone coming to columbus…. it's well worth the stop!
Lemon Custard sounds refreshing on a hot summer day.
That is good to know. Buttermint ice cream really looks delicious. I cant wait to have this.