Olive oil ice cream
- Published: 14 Jun 23
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Different olive oils offer up a surprisingly vast range of flavours, and if you get one that’s particularly fruity rather than grassy and peppery, it can work wonders in a sweet setting. This silky ice cream is stylish, complex and great for anyone who doesn’t like the sometimes overly sweet and sickly ice creams in the shops.
Browse all our irresistible ice cream recipes.
- Makes about 1 litre (serves 8-10)
- Hands-on time 20 min, plus overnight chilling, churning and freezing
Ingredients
- 330ml whole milk
- 450ml double cream
- Fine sea salt
- 5 medium free-range egg yolks
- 115g caster sugar
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil, ideally with a fruity rather than grassy flavour, plus extra to serve (optional)
Specialist kit
- Ice cream machine
Useful to have
- Probe or sugar thermometer
Method
- Put the milk, cream and a pinch of fine sea salt in a medium pan, heat gently until steaming hot, then remove the pan from the heat. In a separate bowl, use a balloon whisk to whisk the egg yolks and sugar for 1 minute until thoroughly combined.
- Half-fill the sink with cold water. Gradually whisk the hot cream into the yolk mixture, whisking continuously to form a custard. Return the custard to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring all the time, until it reaches 82°C on a sugar thermometer (or becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon). Don’t let the custard boil or it will scramble. As soon as it reaches the right temperature or thickens enough, plunge the base of the pan into the sink of water to cool. Speed up the cooling process by stirring the mixture every so often.
- Once the custard is at room temperature, whisk in the olive oil. Pour the mixture into a lidded container, cover the surface with baking paper, add the lid, then chill overnight.
- The next day, pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn for 25-45 minutes (depending on your machine) until it reaches the texture of thick whipped cream. Transfer to a lidded container, seal and freeze for at least 4 hours until ready to serve. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Soften for 5-10 minutes out of the freezer before serving (see serving tip).
- Recipe from July 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 392kcals
- Fat
- 36g (17g saturated)
- Protein
- 3.3g
- Carbohydrates
- 14g (14g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0g
- Salt
- 0.1g
delicious. tips
Serving suggestion: Take inspiration from the world of fine dining and use a tablespoon dipped in hot water to create a neat, flat well in the top of your scoop, then fill it with more olive oil – as it chills it becomes viscous and thick, like a delicious syrup.
Don’t waste it: Lightly whisk, then freeze the leftover egg whites to use in meringues.
Unsurprisingly, the quality of the extra-virgin olive oil you use to make your ice cream will have a huge impact on the final flavour. It’s a little known fact but extra-virgin olive oil only has a shelf life of about 18-24 months and it tastes best with the first six months of opening the bottle, so it’s best to buy a fresh bottle for this recipe if possible.
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