Incredibly creamy no-churn ice cream infused with the natural sweetness of fresh cherries, and loaded with flecks of dark chocolate and sweetened cherries!
When it comes to ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s has definitely made a name for themselves. Known for unique flavors that are packed with all kinds of goodies, they’ve truly cornered the market for ice cream connoisseurs.
Recently, I was introduced to one of their classic flavors–Cherry Garcia. It’s a cherry-flavored ice cream loaded with sweet cherries and chocolate flakes. Now, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate and cherries together. However, it was LOVE at first spoonful. I couldn’t get enough of this ice cream! The flavor of the creamy cherry ice cream along with the plump sweetened cherries and snappy hunks of chocolate was pure euphoria in my mouth. I just knew I had to make my own version…
Why You’ll Love Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Simple No-Churn Recipe: You don’t need an expensive cumbersome ice cream maker to make this ice cream. In fact, you don’t need any special equipment at all. As long as you have a hand beater or a really strong arm to whip up some heavy cream, you’re good to go.
Exceptionally Creamy: Made with a base of heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk, no-churn ice cream recipes are known for their blissful creaminess. It also has a lighter, fluffier texture that’s much easier to scoop into.
Chocolate + Cherries = Heaven: The combination of creamy cherry ice cream and rich dark chocolate is absolute bliss. They’re a marriage of flavors that I definitely underestimated before my very first encounter with Cherry Garcia ice cream.
Tips For Making THE Best Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Cook the Cherries: In order to really extract all that luscious flavor from the cherries, you have to cook them first. This not only softens the cherries, giving them that nice and tender texture, but it also creates a sweet cherry syrup to infuse the ice cream. Once you’ve pitted the cherries, either halve or quarter them depending on their size. Place them into a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Cook this mixture for 15-20 minutes, allowing the cherries to soften and juices to reduce slightly.
Add Both Vanilla and Almond Extract: After you’ve cooked the cherries, stir in a teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. These two flavor boosters are a must for not only enhancing the cherries, but the overall flavor of the ice cream.
Drain the Cherries: Instead of simply tossing the cooked cherries and syrup directly into the ice cream base, I decided to separate them by pouring the cherries into a fine mesh sieve and draining the syrup. Once the cherries and syrup have cooled completely, the syrup gets stirred into the sweetened condensed milk, which is then incorporated into the whipped cream. The cooked cherries get folded in at the end along with the chocolate. This technique prevents over-mixing, so you don’t deflate your ice cream.
Chopped is Better than Chips: Due to the frozen nature of ice cream, chocolate chips tend to be rock hard when added to ice cream. That’s why I highly recommend using chopped chocolate instead. Chopping the chocolate gives you a nice mix of fine flakes and hunks of chocolate that disperse evenly throughout the ice cream.
What if I only have chocolate chips?
If you only have chocolate chips, just do what I did! Melt a cup of chocolate chips in the microwave, then spread it into a thin even layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze the chocolate until it’s solid, then chop it up.
Can I use frozen cherries instead of fresh?
I haven’t tried this recipe with frozen cherries, so I can’t give you a solid answer. I will say that frozen cherries tend to carry more liquid (due to the freezing process), so I’d recommend draining the cherries before cooking them. Frozen cherries are also softer than fresh cherries, so they most likely won’t require as long of a cooking time.
Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups (12 ounces) fresh sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips
Instructions
- Cut the cherries in half or in quarters, depending on the size. Place cherries into a medium saucepan, and stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. This should take about 5 minutes. Once it's boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer/reduce for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat, then stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Pour cherries into a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl, to separate the cherries from the syrup. Allow the cherries and syrup* to cool completely.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk into a medium bowl, and stir in cooled cherry syrup until completely incorporated; set aside.
- In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream on high until stiff peaks form. Remove bowl from mixer. Add the sweetened condensed milk mixture to the whipped cream, and fold everything together until mostly combined. Fold in the cooled cherries and chopped chocolate.
- Pour ice cream mixture into a freezer-safe container. Chill the ice cream in the freezer for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Scoop, serve, and enjoy!