This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Fresh Cherry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate
Churn up a batch of our homemade fresh Cherry Ice Cream with dark chocolate!
Hey cherry lovers! This recipe is for you, and me too of course. I’m a cherry lover from way back. This week we’re focusing on cherry recipes and to get started I’ve revived an old post you might have missed. We’ve got new photos, new taste testers, and a brand new bottle of Kirsch.
Fresh cherries soaked in cherry brandy folded into an eggless ice cream filled with more fresh cherries, then blended with dark chocolate. What more is there to discuss? This stuff is cherry-licious.
Adding small amounts of liquor to eggless ice cream helps create a softer, scoop-able consistency.
Custard style ice creams made with egg yolks don’t freeze as hard as eggless ice cream recipes. Adding just a touch of liquor like this cherry brandy not only adds a delicious punch of flavor, it helps create a better scoop-able consistency.
If you don’t generally imbibe or prefer not to buy a whole bottle of Kirsch, it’s all good. This recipe will be fine without it.
However if you do enjoy a little brandy from time to time, this French cherry brandy is wonderful served cold. It’s also terrific added to recipes like this ice cream, or Black Forest Cake and Cherries Jubilee.
Check out this article by cookbook author David Lebovitz for more about Kirsch. HINT: Well chilled and stored in a dark location, Kirsch will keep for a year or two!
Overview of ingredients:
- fresh cherries, pits removed, chopped and divided
- Kirsch – cherry brandy
- whole milk
- heavy cream
- granulated sugar
- salt
- vanilla extract
- good quality dark chocolate, chopped or dark chocolate chips, rough chopped
How to make cherry ice cream:
1. Macerate part of the cherries
Place 1/2 cup of cherries in a small bowl. Add the Kirsch, cover and refrigerate until needed. The cherries and brandy are going to make this incredible, flavorful cherry juice 🙂
2. Steep the remaining cherries on the stove-top
Combine the remaining chopped cherries, milk, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat until the mixture starts to boil. Remove from the heat, cover and steep for 30 minutes.
3. Puree the milk and cherry mixture
Using a stick or immersion blender, process the cherry and milk mixture until pureed. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream. Pour the ice cream base into a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. Make the ice cream!
Add the vanilla and Kirsch soaked cherries to the pureed milk and cherry mixture. Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
When also frozen, add the chopped chocolate and process until distributed.
Transfer to a freezer safe container with a lid. Freeze for several hours or overnight for a firm consistency.
Serve and enjoy!
Cherries and chocolate are the perfect match.
There are two full cups of fresh cherries in this ice cream recipe so the consistency is slightly different than a dairy only recipe. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Along with the pureed cherries, there are chunks of chopped cherries and chopped dark chocolate. You can use dark chocolate chips, as I have done here, or chop good quality chocolate bars.
We prefer dark chocolate in this recipe, but semisweet or bittersweet are both good too. If using chocolate chips I recommend giving them a rough chop, or if you can find dark chocolate mini-chips, they’re perfect!
Fresh cherries are the base for this luscious, eggless ice cream.
Don’t skimp on the cherries in this recipe! Some of the cherries are steeped in hot milk and sugar for 30 minutes before being pureed and added to the base.
Another 1/2 cup of diced cherries are soaked overnight in cherry brandy then added to the mixture before churning. This is a full-on cherry flavored frozen treat you’ll remember long after you’ve taken the last bite. Enjoy!
During summer, it’s hard to beat a nice cold scoop of homemade ice cream
Now days it almost feels like cheating because homemade ice cream is so easy to make. When I was young, somebody (usually the kids) had to hand churn the ice cream maker while Dad added salt and ice to the tub.
In later years we graduated to an electric ice cream maker, but you still had to add salt and ice.
Now all you have to do it mix it up, pour it in and turn it on! Â Amazing! Check out the link at the bottom of this post for information about our favorite ice cream maker.
Thanks for PINNING!
Cherry Ice Cream with dark chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 cups cherries pitted, chopped, divided
- 2 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry brandy)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream, divided
- â…” cup granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup good quality dark chocolate, chopped, or dark chocolate chips, rough chopped
Instructions
- Place ½ cup of the chopped cherries in a small bowl.  Add the Kirsch, cover and refrigerate until time to make the ice cream.
- In a medium saucepan combine the remaining 1 ½ cups chopped cherries, milk, ¼ cup heavy cream, sugar and salt.  Heat on medium/low until the mixture just begins to boil. Turn off the heat, cover and steep for 30 minutes.
- Puree the milk and cherry mixture with a stick/immersion blender or regular blender. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream. Pour the mixture into a container, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- When ready to make the ice cream, stir in the vanilla and the Kirsch soaked cherries. Â Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Â When the ice cream is almost finished, add the chopped chocolate and process until distributed. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container with a lid. Freeze for several hours or overnight for a firmer consistency.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Here are a few more ice cream recipes you might enjoy!
What a treat! Chocolate Chocolate Chunk-Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream made with a luscious and rich chocolate ice cream, chunks of semi-sweet chocolate and a tart raspberry swirl.
Rocky Road Ice Cream – A rich, smooth chocolaty bowl of deliciousness blended with fluffy mini-marshmallows and chopped roasted almonds. A great treat with terrific textures and flavor.
Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream – don’t let summer pass you by without making this luscious, rich vanilla ice cream with ribbons of fresh strawberry sauce and crushed shortbread cookies throughout.
Liz Fledderjohann
Tricia, recently Dennis said, “We’ve not had homemade ice cream this summer yet.” So, I got busy, looked at your site, and decided this recipe looked pretty amazing…and it is/was! We invited daughter Joy and family over for a summer treat; her first bite evoked the response: “This is just as good as and reminds me of Hudsonville ice cream (a creamery in Western Michigan where they used to live). It was the ultimate compliment from a foodie such as she is. Thank you for your on-going posts and beautiful, creative ideas. While I don’t always inform you of recipes I try, we’ve never been disappointed. Thank you again!!!
Pamela Dreyer
The recipe says yields 8 servings, but what is the serving size? I have a 2 quart ice cream maker. Wondering if I need to modify the recipe.
Tricia Buice
Hi Pamela. You’ll be fine with a two quart ice cream maker. I use a 1-1/2 quart capacity ice cream maker and it all fits fine. Good luck and enjoy!