From-scratch Cherry Ice Cream

This from-scratch black cherry ice cream is packed full of cherry flavor and suited to a hot summer day. It’s a good alternative to the standard vanilla ice cream since it’s packed with dark sweet cherries in creamy ice cream. From-scratch ice cream in the summertime is an absolute favorite!

This Black Cherry Ice Cream is the solution to hot days

From-scratch ice cream can feel intimidating, but this ice cream recipe is incredibly straightforward.

This silky, creamy, ice cream is ready with a combination of a few plain ingredients.

Instead of a standard vanilla ice cream, this one is packed full of dark cherries. The cherries are mixed in and swirled throughout the entire batch.

The method is suited to making at home on hot summer days or serving with your favorite cake or cupcakes. With only 6 ingredients and an ice cream maker, you can be eating this in no time at all.

Why you will come back to From-scratch Cherry Ice Cream

This ice cream is essentially a cherry chocolate chip ice cream, and it’s so good. You’re going to want to try it because…

• You can make it with fresh or frozen cherries. We love fresh but it’s not always an option!
• It’s so straightforward to cook. All you need to do is combine the ingredients and let your ice cream maker do its magic!
• The whole family will love this recipe.

Churn vs. No-Churn Cherries Ice Cream

No-churn ice cream Is satisfying and straightforward, but using an ice cream maker makes a big difference.

Also known as American-style or Philadelphia-style ice cream, most no-churn ice creams utilize sweetened condensed milk rather than eggs and granulated sugar.

As a result, the texture of ice cream-maker churned ice cream is super smooth and silky thanks to the addition of the egg custard.

This recipe also uses vanilla pudding mix which helps it have a thicker texture that we know you are going to love! Instead of using corn starch or gum thickener (xanthan gum, cellulose gum, tara gum, carob bean gum, etc), the vanilla adds a sweet vanilla flavor while also giving the ice cream a creamy, thick texture.

You can use any ice cream maker to make this recipe. This one

Cherry Ice Cream Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to pick up at the grocery store to make this recipe:

• Frozen sweet black cherries – we tend to use frozen dark cherries for convenience, but you can use any variety of cherries in this recipe, even fresh ones. As long as the cherries are pitted, you can use them. We use this Cherry pitter
• Milk – You can use whole milk or 2% milk in this recipe. We would stay away from 1%, skim milk, or fat-free milk (nonfat milk) because the fat content in the milk is important when making ice cream. Don’t worry about it — you’re having ice cream, after all! You could also add a little heavy cream for an even creamier consistency.
• Sugar – Granulated, white sugar, or cane sugar should do the trick.
• Vanilla pudding mix – Vanilla pudding mix is our favorite for this recipe, but we bet French vanilla pudding mix would taste even better! If you’re a chocolate lover, chocolate pudding mix will make this cherry chocolate ice cream even more chocolatey!
• Eggs – You will need two eggs for this recipe. Make sure you Test the eggs for freshness If you’ve had yours for a while.
• Evaporated milk – Evaporated milk is simply milk that has been cooked down to a super creamy liquid. We always keep a few cans in our pantry (for emergency ice cream cravings, especially) but if you don’t have it on hand you can Make your own.

How to make Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream

If you’ve never made ice cream before, we can promise you it is a lot easier than it looks! Here’s what to do:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, sugar, pudding mix, eggs, and evaporated milk.
2. Whisk together until fully combined.
3. Pour the mix into the ice cream machine and then add in the frozen cherries. Be sure to include all the juice in the bag as well. (If using fresh cherries, make sure they are pitted first.)
4. Add the paddle and lid and allow it to churn for about 30 minutes or until your ice cream maker is done.
5. Serve immediately or store in the freezer in an airtight container.

Fun ice cream accessories for Black Cherry Ice Cream

How cute are these Ice cream scoops? They would be suited to serving up this from-scratch ice cream at a party.

This Ice cream bowl Set is great for kids! With fun colors, they’ll love both the bowl and the ice cream.

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream variations

• If you like, you can stir in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate while the ice cream is churning, or before it finishes up. If you like the Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream, you should absolutely never skip the chocolate chips — trust us on this. A black cherry chip ice cream hits the spot!
• Stir in 1/2 cup of amaretto (almond liqueur) into your ice cream base for some extra flavor. But not too much or your ice cream won’t freeze properly. You could also completely swap the cherries for peaches and make a peach ice cream.
• We also recommend drizzling Hot fudge sauce Or chocolate syrup over top. And no one will say no to some chocolate sprinkles and a maraschino cherry on top for the well-balanced ice cream sundae! You could even make it a part of an Ice cream sundae bar.
• Another idea is to make Oatmeal cookies Or Sugar cookies For ice cream sandwiches. Better yet, make these Oatmeal raisin cookies With dried cherries rather than raisins.
• It’s also divine alongside a cherry dessert, such as a Cherry crisp Or Cobbler. You could also scoop it over a chocolate dessert, such as a brownie sundae or a Chocolate mug cake.

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe Tips and Tricks

Make sure your ice cream maker bowl is totally frozen. You might have to plan ahead and put it in the freezer the day before you plan to make ice cream. Or you can keep it there all summer as we do — it makes a great bucket for frozen veggies!

When adding your frozen cherries, be sure to use the juice from the frozen cherries. Don’t drain it! You won’t regret the added flavor it brings.

From-scratch ice cream can become a little hard to scoop in the freezer. Let it sit out for 10 minutes or so before scooping. It also helps to use a Quality ice cream scoop

For best results, use an airtight container when storing. (we love This container

If you don’t want chunks of cherries, but would like the flavor, you can pulse the cherries in a food processor until smooth before adding. You’d still follow the recipe as written, adding the cherry mixture at the time you’d add frozen cherries.

To amp up the cherry flavor, you could drizzle in some cherry juice concentrate as well.

Cherry Ice Cream Recipe FAQs