Carrot Cake Ice Cream Is The Perfect Sweet Treat For Fall

Waiting for a new season to start can feel like forever, especially when all the festive sweet treats you plan on making are contingent upon a few simple changes in the weather. Sure, you could exercise some patience and wait another month before you make, say, some delicious carrot cake, but do you really want to do that? And what if, say, there was a tasty and convenient way to change up one of your favorite seasonal desserts (again, that dessert being carrot cake — we're big fans of carrot cake) and make it something you could enjoy all year round? Truth be told, with a little culinary creativity, there's actually a way you can enjoy carrot cake in all its warming spice glory with or without the presence of colorful leaves on the ground. And that way is ice cream.

Carrot cake ice cream is the perfect dessert to consume when you want those signature fall flavors regardless of the weather. Suppose you're a bonified carrot cake lover like us. In that case, you already know that what sets this tasty layer cake apart from other seasonal confections. Sure enough, you can infuse the flavors and ingredients of this signature dessert into a rich and luscious cream-cheese custard. Once you've perfected the base of this frozen treat, all you need to do is add the right amount of carrots, along with any extras you feel compelled to add such as raisins or pecans. Yet how do you imbue that one-of-a-kind baked carrot essence into a frozen batch of homemade custard?

Not many desserts can replace classic carrot cake and cream cheese frosting, but carrot cake ice cream might be the next best thing. (One note: You'll need an ice cream maker for this one.) In order to make this frozen dessert, you want to start by making a custard base out of milk, cream, and egg yolks with the recommended heating and cooling protocol. Once the base of your custard is assembled, mix in chunks of softened cream cheese before temporarily placing the mixture in your freezer.

While your custard begins to set, melt butter and brown sugar into a caramel-like glaze over your stove. Add shredded carrots and raisins (if using) and cook until the carrots begin to soften and break down. You can add chopped pecans during or after this sugary mixture has thickened. If you want your nuts to take on a more roasted, smokey flavor, add them roughly five minutes after adding your carrots to the butter and brown sugar. Once the mixture is nice and thick, remove it from the heat and let it cool, stirring every five minutes or so to prevent the syrup from hardening into one massive clump.

After that's done, add your custard base, sweet syrupy extras, and your favorite warming spices (think nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, or whatever floats your boat) to your trusty ice cream maker and mix accordingly. Now that you know how to make a delicious frozen alternative to traditional carrot cake, let's reveal a few other ways you can make this icy-cold confection.

As it turns out, you can actually make a delicious no-churn version of carrot cake ice cream in just one handy jar. To do so, add grated carrot, warming spices of your choice, sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and softened cream cheese to a 16-ounce wide-mouth jar. Mix the ingredients well with a hand mixer and then slowly blend in cold heavy cream. Whip all the included ingredients for up to three minutes, or until the mixture appears to have more structure. Add a lid and freeze, leaving the top slightly loose since ice cream is known to expand as it forms.

If you love the idea of turning carrot cake into a multi-seasonal confection and you have some extra time, consider making a carrot-based ice cream cake. To do so, make a similar no churn-ice cream as outlined above, but with only vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and cream cheese. Layer the mixture in a round cake pan with parchment paper and freeze. Next, make your favorite carrot cake recipe using two round pans. Once cooled, add your frozen custard disc between your freshly made layers of carrot cake and enjoy or freeze for an additional hour or two.

Whether you decide to make a custard-based carrot cake ice cream, a simple no-churn version, or something a bit more refreshing like pineapple carrot cake shaved ice, turning this classic dessert into a frozen treat proves to be a rewarding idea for any season.