Black cherry ice cream is a rich and creamy vanilla ice cream infused with sweet black cherry syrup, chunks of black cherries and chopped chocolate. This no churn cherry ice cream is an easy to make treat everyone will love.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I love a good homemade ice cream recipe. A few recipes from the blog that I adore are my My Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream, Biscoff Ice Cream, Tiramisu Ice Cream, Nutella Ice Cream and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. I am so excited to add this homemade dark cherry ice cream recipe to the blog. I know you’ll love this ice cream too.
- You love Cherry Garica. This black cherry ice cream tastes just like a copycat of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. Grab your mixer and let’s go.
- Super simple to make. Once the cherry sauce is made and cooled, you can make this wonderfully easy ice cream with cherries and chocolate in about 20 minutes. After assembling the ice cream just let the ice cream freeze for about 6 - 8 hours, scoop and enjoy.
Ingredients
This chocolate and cherry ice cream recipe needs only a handful of ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge.
- Cherry Sauce: Gather black or dark cherries, sugar and lemon juice.
- Cherry Ice Cream Base: Gather heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, chopped chocolate and cherry jam.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make this dark cherry and chocolate ice cream if you need them.
- Black Cherries: Use fresh, ripe and sweet black cherries. Frozen black cherries can also be used if needed.
- Granulated Sugar: This recipe hasn’t been tested with alternative sugars. However, maple sugar would be a good substitute.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: This is another essential ingredient for homemade ice cream when not using an ice cream maker.
- Vanilla and Almond Extract: This provides a lovely background flavor for the ice cream.
- Heavy Cream: This is an essential ingredient to the structure and texture of ice cream when it’s made without an ice cream mixer. Heavy cream usually whips to amount twice the amount.
- Cherry Jam: Adding a swirl of cherry jam adds even more cherry flavor. Feel free to omit if you prefer.
How To Make
Learn how to make black cherry ice cream in a few easy steps.
- Wash, dry, de-stem and pit the cherries or use frozen cherries that are already pitted. Add the cherries, sugar and lemon juice to a sauce pan. Cook the cherries over medium heat for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cherries transform into a chunky cherry sauce. Cool the cherry sauce to room temperature before mixing into the ice cream base. This whole process takes about 30 - 45 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled, strain the cherry syrup into a large mixing bowl using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the cherry pieces for mixing into the ice cream at the same time as the chopped chocolate.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and almond extract to the same bowl as the strained cherry syrup. Whisk the sweetened cherry syrup mixture together until smooth and very well combined.
3. Pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. Whip the cream at medium speed for 5 - 6 minutes or until the whipped cream is medium-stiff peaks. Add the sweetened condensed milk and cherry mixture to the same mixing bowl as the whipped cream. Mix the whipped cream with the cherry syrup mixture until all the ingredients are fully combined. Fold in the reserved cherries and chopped chocolate.
4. Assemble the black cherry ice cream. Evenly spread about ½ of the base cherry ice cream into a large freezer safe container. If you are using cherry jam, swirl ¼ cup of cherry jam into the base ice cream. Repeat the remaining ½ of the cherry ice cream base, followed by another ¼ cup cherry jam. Top with more chopped chocolate if you like. Transfer to the freezer to set for 1 - 2 hours. Then cover the entire container in plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Freeze the ice cream for another 6 hours, but preferably overnight.
How To Make Ahead, Store and Serve
- Make Ahead: The cherry sauce can be made 3 - 4 days ahead and stored in an airtight containers in the fridge until ready to use in the ice cream.
- Store: The creamy and decadent ice cream can be stored in an airtight and freezer proof container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Serve: Scoop the black cherry ice cream into bowls and enjoy. This cherry ice cream would also be incredibly delicious served on top of my Espresso Brownies or sandwiched between two Brownie Cookies.
M’s Expert Tips
- Allow time. Making and cooling the cherry sauce will take about 30 - 45 minutes.
- Taste and adjust. Make sure to taste each component before assembling the ice cream. Feel free to adjust according to your preference for sweetness and creaminess.
- For even more cherry flavor, use real cherries and cherry jam. Fresh or frozen cherries are used to flavor the base vanilla ice cream. For even more cherry flavor, I highly suggest swirling homemade or store bought cherry jam.
- Make sure to chill the ice cream for at least 6 - 8 hours: For the best black cherry chocolate ice cream, do not skimp on the freezer time.
FAQs
This cherry chocolate chip ice cream is similar to the one made by Ben & Jerry’s in that they both have a vanilla ice cream base flavored with cherry, mixed with cherry chunks and chopped chocolate pieces.
This black cherry ice cream tastes like smooth and creamy vanilla ice cream with notes of sweet, tart cherry. There are chunks of sweet and juicy cherry pieces balanced with the sweet, slightly bitter taste of semi sweet or dark chocolate.
Black cherries are considered sweeter, darker and generally have a deeper cherry flavor. Regular cherries or red cherries are a bit more tart with varying levels of sweetness.
Other Cherry Recipes to Try
If you try this Black Cherry Ice Cream Recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Black Cherry Ice Cream Recipe
Equipment
- 1 sauce pan
- 1 stand mixer with whisk attachment or hand mixer with beaters
- 1 8 cup (1.89 L) or larger capacity freezer proof container
Ingredients
Cherry Sauce
- 1 pound fresh or frozen dark or black cherries
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Cherry Ice Cream
- 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 4 oz. finely chopped dark chocolate or mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup (120 ml) cherry jam, optional but recommended
Instructions
- Wash, dry, de-stem and pit the cherries or use frozen cherries that are already pitted.1 pound fresh or frozen dark or black cherries
- Add the cherries, sugar and lemon juice to a sauce pan. Cook the cherriesover medium heat for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cherries transform into a chunky cherry sauce. Cool the cherry sauce to room temperature before mixing into the ice cream base. This whole process takes about 30 - 45 minutes.½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Once the mixture has cooled, strain the cherry syrup into a large mixing bowl using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the cherry pieces for mixing into the ice cream at the same time as the chopped chocolate.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and almond extract to the same bowl as the strained cherry syrup. Whisk the sweetened cherry syrup mixture together until smooth and very well combined.14 oz. sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract , ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- Pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. Whip the cream at medium speed for 5 - 6 minutes or until the whipped cream is medium-stiff peaks. Add the sweetened condensed milk and cherry mixture to the same mixing bowl as the whipped cream. Mix the whipped cream with the cherry syrup mixture until all the ingredients are fully combined. Fold in the reserved cherries and most of the chopped chocolate. Reserve 2 -3 tablespoons to add to the top of the ice cream.4 oz. finely chopped dark chocolate or mini chocolate chips
- Assemble the black cherry ice cream. Evenly spread about ½ of the base cherry ice cream into a large freezer safe container. If you are using cherry jam, swirl ¼ cup of cherry jam into the base ice cream. Repeat the remaining ½ of the cherry ice cream base, followed by another ¼ cup cherry jam. Top with more chopped chocolate if you like.½ cup (120 ml) cherry jam, optional but recommended
- Transfer to the freezer to set for 1 - 2 hours. Then cover the entire container in plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Freeze the ice cream for another 6 hours, but preferably overnight.
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