A no churn recipe for the creamiest black cherry vanilla ice cream, rippled with homemade cherry compote and chunks of dark chocolate. This easy cherry ice cream with chocolate chunks can be made with fresh or frozen cherries, for a delicious summer treat.
You might also love these no churn ice cream recipes for strawberry swirl vanilla malt ice cream, lemon poppy seed ice cream, and chocolate coffee mudslide ice cream.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Churn. To make this no churn cherry vanilla ice cream, you won’t need an ice cream maker, just an electric mixer to whip the cream until thick and fluffy.
Creamy and Crunchy. You’ll love the texture of the creamy vanilla ice cream, loaded with sweet cherries and crunchy shards of chocolate.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Cherries. I used frozen, sweet dark cherries that are already pitted, although you can use fresh cherries, too, and just pit them yourself.
- Amaretto Liqueur. My original concept for this cherry vanilla ice cream was actually for a black forest ice cream, which has an almost identical flavor profile with the chocolate, vanilla and cherries. Black forest cake is traditionally soaked in kirsch, which is a clear spirit made from distilling sour cherries. Not having any kirsch, but with a bottle of amaretto liqueur in my cupboard, I decided to simmer the cherries in that instead. It adds a lovely flavor and the alcohol is completely cooked off, but it can be left out.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk. Sweetens the ice cream, and makes it so smooth and creamy.
- Cream Cheese. Adds more body and richness.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Cream. Use heavy whipping cream, which has a high fat content to whip up thick and fluffy.
- Chocolate. Choose a bar of good quality chocolate that you can chop up. I used 70% chocolate, so that my finished ice cream wasn’t too sweet.
Instructions
- Start by cutting the cherries in half – even when they’re frozen, they’re easy to cut with a sharp knife. In a saucepan, combine the cherries with the amaretto. Over medium heat, cook the cherries until they begin to break down and become very juicy. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and becomes syrupy. This may take about 20-30 minutes. Refrigerate the cherries until completely chilled.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or just using a bowl and hand-held mixer), beat the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, salt and vanilla for several minutes on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the cold heavy whipping cream and beat on medium high speed for several minutes until it becomes thick and fluffy.
- Chop the chocolate into chunks and shards, no larger than 1/4 inch. Add the chopped chocolate and the chilled cherry compote to the ice cream mixture and fold everything together until combined.
- Spread the ice cream into a lidded container with at least a 2-quart capacity. Cover and freeze for at least 8 hours, or overnight, until firm enough to scoop.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Homemade ice cream is usually best eaten within about 2 weeks.
I used frozen, sweet dark cherries that are already pitted, although you can use fresh cherries, too, and just pit them yourself. Sour cherries would also work.
Yes, the amaretto is optional.
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No Churn Black Cherry Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen sweet dark pitted cherries
- 2 tbsp amaretto liqueur (optional)
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 oz block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 3 ½ oz good quality dark chocolate bar (preferably 70% cacao)
Instructions
- Start by cutting the cherries in half – even when they're frozen, they're easy to cut with a sharp knife. In a saucepan, combine the cherries with the amaretto. Over medium heat, cook the cherries until they begin to break down and become very juicy. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and becomes syrupy. This may take about 20-30 minutes. Refrigerate the cherries until completely chilled.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or just using a bowl and hand-held mixer), beat the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, salt and vanilla for several minutes on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the cold heavy whipping cream and beat on medium high speed for several minutes until it becomes thick and fluffy.
- Chop the chocolate into chunks and shards, no larger than 1/4 inch. Add the chopped chocolate and the chilled cherry compote to the ice cream mixture and fold everything together until combined.
- Spread the ice cream into a lidded container with at least a 2-quart capacity. Cover and freeze for at least 8 hours, or overnight, until firm enough to scoop.
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