The Cheese You Should Definitely Be Adding To Homemade Ice Cream

Making homemade ice cream can be fun and, if done correctly, results in a delicious finished product. Unlike store-bought ice cream, it can also be flavored in any way your imagination can concoct. And if you want to make your ice cream extra creamy, you might want to add some cream cheese.

Yes, you read that right. Cream cheese. Sure, we're used to thinking of cream cheese as a more savory spread, whether it's schmeared on your bagel or used as a dip for veggies, but it's much more versatile than that. David Grillo, executive chef at Cantina 76 in Columbia, South Carolina, suggests using it in ice cream. That's right. Though directly freezing cream cheese may be a real no-no, mixing it into your favorite frozen treat seems to be encouraged.

It makes sense if you think about it. Cream is already a key part of making ice cream. This is just a thicker version. Sufficiently softened, cream cheese adds a richness you may not always get in ice cream. However, Grillo also stipulates that its thickness can make the final product difficult to scoop if it isn't a typical "custard-style" recipe with cooked cream, eggs, and sugar.

There are plenty of recipes for cream cheese ice cream out there. First, You will want to mix your milk and cream and heat them to about 175 degrees. Whisk some of this mixture into the eggs, then combine both mixtures. Mix the cream cheese into the mixture of eggs, milk, and cream immediately after you remove it from the heat when it is still hot.

This will quickly soften the cream cheese, especially if it's already at room temperature. Many recipes suggest quickly cooling the resulting mixture by placing the pan in a bowl of ice water. Most recipes will revert to the standard classic homemade ice cream process at this point: cover with foil or wax paper, refrigerate overnight, and then freeze.

The question of whether or not to use an ice cream machine will, of course, come down to whether you own one or not, but though it is possible to make ice cream without that specific gadget, the fact that these recipes are explicitly traditional hints that you may be better using one for your cream cheese ice cream.

Strange as it initially may sound, cream cheese ice cream isn't exactly out of place in the dessert world. Anyone who has ever had cream cheese frosting on a cake can attest to how it fits into any sweet treat. Of course, cream cheese frosting is much sweeter than the cream cheese you buy at the store to spread on a bagel. Still, all it takes is a bit of butter, vanilla extract, and confectioners' sugar to make it the appropriate compliment to a red velvet cupcake.

And then, of course, there's cheesecake. While fresher cheeses such as ricotta or mascarpone are preferred by some to a tub of Philadelphia, plenty of recipes will tell you to reach for that very same tub.

An honorable mention must be made for the Philly fluff cake as well, a moist and dense spin on the pound cake, popular in New York and New Jersey but named for the iconic brand of cream cheese that is so integral to the recipe. If cream cheese can be an essential component of this much-beloved dessert, it makes sense that it can also find a home in your favorite sweet summer treat.