This Turkish delight ice cream has a velvety texture and an amazing flavor from Turkish delights and rosewater. Plus, it’s made without an ice-cream machine!
A few weeks ago I posted this bee pollen golden milk no-churn ice cream, which had some powdered milk to help the texture remain soft and velvety and minimize any sugar crystals. Adding powdered milk (which is mixed in half a cup of whole milk) to the ice cream recipe not only cuts down the sweetness but it also reduces the overall fat percentage. So, I think this recipe is a nice variation to the classic no-churn recipe that uses only cream and sweetened condensed milk. The taste of that ice cream is nothing but ordinary, and though you may find it a little weird at first, you get to love it bite after bite – or lick after lick. This bee pollen ice cream was the inspiration for today’s recipe, which incorporates Turkish delights to achieve the same velvety texture and a delicate, irresistible rose flavor due to the delights, rosebuds, and rosewater.
I first used Turkish delights in these Turkish delight filled cookies. I just can’t say enough about these cookies. They are very easy and quick to make, don’t require a lot of ingredients, they are naturally vegan, and I make them as often as I can since they’ve become my favorite cookie recipe! After falling in love with their rose flavor, I decided to make a more summery dessert with them, so this ice cream was more than an obvious choice. Since Turkish delights consist mainly of corn starch, sugar, water, and flavorings, they actually replace the corn starch used in the bee pollen golden milk ice cream recipe. What I did was to melt them in some hot milk and then blend them in a blender to ensure that there were no lumps and everything was smooth and properly homogenized.
Another ingredient of this recipe is the dried rosebuds. Though Turkish delights and rosewater already have enough rose flavor, I find that rosebuds contribute a more delicate, almost sensual scent. So you’ll see that I use them to add an extra level of deliciousness in this recipe. However, if you can’t find any, just add a tablespoon more of rosewater. The steps of this recipe may seem a lot, but once you follow the instructions you’ll see that it’s nothing too complicated or difficult. After all, the final result will be more than rewarding!
All you have to do is heat some milk and cream in a pot, add the powdered milk and Turkish delights and stir until melted or almost melted. Then blend everything together until smooth, return to the pot and add the dried rosebuds. Heat until steamy and leave the rosebuds steep for 10 minutes. Pass the mixture through a sieve and press the rosebuds firmly with a spoon to release their aroma. Cool the mixture in the fridge and add it to some whipped cream along with a can of condensed milk. That’s it! 🙂
Some notes/tips:
Don’t overbeat the cream. You don’t have to whip it until stiff peaks form. In fact, I have the suspicion that the more you whip it, the stiffer your ice cream will be.
If your freezer is too strong, let the ice cream rest in the fridge for 5 minutes before scooping.
Add some crushed cookies, wafers or pistachios for texture and taste.
When we crash cookies or nuts we always get a mixture with some very finely ground particles like powder. This powder can stain ice creams and other creamy mixtures. If you don’t want this to happen, you can pass them through a sieve to get rid of this powder.
If you don’t use cookies this ice cream is gluten-free.
Similar recipes:
Tahini and chocolate fudge popsicles (V & GF)
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- ½ cup (120ml) whole milk
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream, 35% fat
- ½ cup powdered milk
- ½ cup chopped Turkish delights (about 100 grams), rose flavor
- 4 tablespoons dried rosebuds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (preferably Tahitian)
- 2 tablespoons rosewater
- Pinch of salt
- 1 can sweet condensed milk, cold
- 2 cups (500ml) heavy cream 35% fat, very cold
- Optional:
- 1-2 drops natural food coloring (red)
- ½ cup crushed vanilla cookies or wafers or pistachios, sieved
- Place ½ cup milk, ½ cup cream, ½ cup powdered milk and chopped Turkish delights in a pot and stir over medium/low heat until melted, or almost melted.
- Transfer mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Return mixture to the pot, add the dried rosebuds and rose water and heat gently until it starts to steam. Turn off the heat and leave it 10 minutes for the rosebuds to steep.
- Strain through a fine sieve placed over a bowl, and press rosebuds with a spoon to release all of their flavors.
- Add vanilla and salt and refrigerate until cold (about 4 hours or overnight). This is a good time to refrigerate the condensed milk also.
- Beat the heavy cream with a mixer until soft peaks form.
- Continue beating and gradually add the sweetened condensed milk and the Turkish delight mixture (and the food coloring if using).
- Fold crushed cookies into the mixture with a spatula and transfer to a container.
- Freeze until set (about 6-8 hours or overnight)
- Eat!
Use nuts instead of cookies for a gluten-free ice cream
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I love turkish delight! This looks as addictive as the turkish delight in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe…but in ice cream form! PS the last photo looks like a unicorn horn!
Thanks Jessie! Yes it does look like a unicorn horn, doesn’t it? (and I have the feeling it’s your favorite animal :P)