You’re wondering how to make the best ice cream.
And we’re here to tell you–after many hours of research and taste-testing–that the best ice cream starts with a great ice cream base.
Everything else—flavorings, chunky mix-ins, sauces, swirls, whipped cream, chopped nuts, a cherry on top—only adds to what you established when you first made your base.
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Ice Cream Base Definition
But first things first–what is an ice cream base?
The base is that mixture of ingredients–usually milk, cream, sugar, and some thickener, but excluding flavorings and mix-ins–that you pour into your ice cream maker.
An ice cream base has a neutral flavor and, hopefully, if it’s executed correctly, a rich, creamy, smooth, dense but soft enough to scoop texture.
And you know what you don’t want your base to taste like: icy; chalky; too hard; too soft; too light; airy; watery; gummy.
In short, you know great ice cream when you taste the base.
But to be clear, the flavorings and mix-ins are separate from the plain base.
For example, you might add vanilla or chocolate to the base to make that flavor of ice cream. But those flavors won’t change the underlying character and texture of that base.
So, before you add flavors or mix-ins, you’ve got to get that ice cream base right if you want your ice cream to soar.
A Basic Base
Every ice cream base will include some combination of the following necessary ingredients:
- Milk: For the premium ice cream we are contemplating, most premium brands use whole milk to create their base. Some advocate using grass-fed whole milk for a more buttery or savory flavor.
- Cream: Most brands use heavy whipping cream in order to achieve a certain butterfat percentage in their base. In the USA, to be considered ice cream, a base must have at least 10% butterfat. Any less butterfat and the “ice cream” must instead be called “frozen dairy dessert.”
- Sugar: Generally, white sugar is used. However, some brands recommend using a variety of different sugars to create a unique sweet flavor, and a softer, more “scoopable” texture–think brown sugar, corn syrup, tapioca syrup, glucose, honey, even Lyle’s Golden Syrup.
- Thickener: Often, for texture, egg yolks are used to create a custard base. But eggs require tempering for pasteurization–an added, time-consuming step. Instead, many premium brands now thicken and stabilize their bases using cornstarch, xanthan gum, glucose, milk powder, or corn syrup–with delicious results.
Wisdom Of The Brands
To help you create your own perfect ice cream base, we’ve collected the ice cream base recipes of the famous (or soon to be famous) premium brands.
By collecting this information, we hope to gain some insight into what makes these premium ice cream bases so exceptional.
As we add to this list, we’re asking ourselves:
- How do the premium brands obtain such delicious results?
- What unusual ingredients are being used? Why choose those ingredients?
- What cooking techniques make these ice cream bases stand out?
- What can we do at home to obtain their extraordinary results?
So please browse below to learn how the emperors of ice cream are cooking up the good stuff. Then incorporate a few of their tricks in your own homemade ice cream!
Best Ice Cream Base Recipes
- Jeni’s Ice Cream
- Ben & Jerry’s
- Salt and Straw
- Häagen-Dazs
- Coolhaus
- Big Gay Ice Cream
- Ample Hills Creamery
- Van Leeuwen
- Humphry Slocombe
- Milk Bar
- Gelato Fiasco
- Ciao Bella
- Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina
- Rose Levy Berenbaum of Rose’s Ice Cream Bliss
- Jordi Roca of Rocambolesc
- Molly Moon’s (coming soon)
- The Merry Derry (coming soon)