This cherry ice cream is easy to make and packed with wonderfully bright cherry flavor. It uses a simple no churn method that results in a wonderful balance of sweetness, creaminess and fruitiness. In other words, definitely one to add to your list for cherry season.

bowl of cherry ice cream with cherries around bowl and tub behind

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One of these days, an ice cream maker is definitely on my list to get. However being in a temporary kitchen, it hasn’t made the list of things to get. Plus, we have become pretty big fans of the no churn method using sweetened condensed milk and cream, as we used in favorites like roasted strawberry ice cream.

When we went cherry picking, it didn't take much to decide to make a cherry version.

scooping cherry ice cream from tub with cherries to side

An easy no churn ice cream method

In case you are not aware of it, there’s an easy no churn ice cream method that uses sweetened condensed milk and cream. It helps get bast some of the typical challenges you might have without an ice cream maker to help things along.

When you make ice cream in general, you are looking to get a balance of fat and sugar along with some air in the mixture to get the right texture and flavor. One challenge you have with no churn ice creams is keeping everything distributed in the mixture as it freezes.

The sweetened condensed milk means the sugar is already well mixed in. Beating the cream then adds the air that stays pretty well distributed when you fold it into the condensed milk. You can then add various flavors to this mixture as your creativity takes you.

Flavors we've made and loved include pumpkin ice cream, nectarine ice cream and roasted strawberry ice cream.

Tips for this cherry ice cream

For this cherry version, you simply pit and blend up some cherries and fold that puree in as you fold the rest together. You can use either fresh or frozen cherries, as you have available, just make sure they are pitted. Most varieties of cherry will work, just be aware sour cherries may be pretty tart.

ice cream mixture in tub before freezing

You do have one extra step and that’s to give it a little stir part way through freezing. The reason for this is that the cherries are generally a bit heavier and tend to sink to the bottom a little.

You may get lucky and not need to if your blender is very good and you get less ‘bits’ or with blended frozen cherries that will probably hold more evenly. You’ll be able to tell when you pour the mixture into your container for freezing if it seems more creamy and less fruity on the top that the bottom.

If you do need to stir, it’s as simple as remembering and giving everything a slight mix when it’s partly frozen. Don’t stir too much or you will lose all of the air and it may become too hard.

bowl of cherry ice cream with tub to side and cherries around both from overhead

This ice cream has a pretty high quantity of fruit in it as we really love having lots of fruit flavor in there. We were lucky enough to go cherry picking and this was the perfect way to use some of our haul. The bright, juicy cherry flavor really comes through alongside the smooth, sweet creaminess of the base.

We instantly loved the flavor and texture of this cherry ice cream and the no churn method makes it so easy. It’s packed with bright, fruity flavor and is a true taste of summer. So add it to your list for a summer treat.

white bowl filled with cherry ice cream with tub with more behind

Try these other desserts perfect for summer:

Strawberry mousse
Mango paletas (ice pops)
Grilled peaches with mascarpone
No churn raspberry chocolate chip ice cream
Mango passion fruit Eton mess
Plus get more dessert recipes in the archives

bowl of cherry ice cream with cherries around bowl

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5 from 6 votes