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. This recipe may have 1-2 steps more than your average whip-the-cream-add-the-sweetened-milk-and-freeze recipe, but it’s actually pretty easy and the final result will be more than rewarding!
All you have to do to make this ice cream is:
- Heat some milk and cream in a pot, add the powdered milk, the rosebuds and the Turkish delights, stir until melted and let it steep for 10 minutes.
- Pass the mixture through a sieve and press the rosebuds firmly with a spoon to release their aroma, then cool the mixture in the fridge
- Add it to some whipped cream along with a can of condensed milk. That’s it! 🙂
Some notes/tips:
- Don’t overbeat the cream because it will turn to butter and buttermilk. You just have to whip it until soft peaks form.
- 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 crush cookies or nuts we always get some powder mixed with the bigger pieces. This powder can “stain” ice creams and other creamy mixtures. If you don’t want this to happen, you can sieve the pieces 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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This recipe has been updated with easier instructions 🙂
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) heavy cream, 35% fat
- 1/2 cup powdered milk
- 1/2 cup packed finely 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 (400 grams) sweet condensed milk, cold
- 2 cups (500 grams) heavy cream 35% fat, very cold
- Optional:
- 1-2 drops natural red food coloring
- 1/2 - 1 cup crushed vanilla cookies or wafers or pistachios, sieved
- Make the base: Place the milk, the half cup of cream, the powdered milk, the chopped Turkish delights and the rosebuds in a small pot and stir over medium/low heat until the Turkish delights are melted.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 the rosebuds with a spoon to release all of their flavors. Add the vanilla, the rosewater, and the salt and refrigerate until cold (about 4 hours or overnight). This is a good time to also put the sweetened condensed milk in the fridge.
- Make the ice cream: 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). Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Fold the crushed cookies into the mixture with a spatula and transfer to a container.
- Freeze until set (about 6-8 hours or overnight)
- Eat!
Easier recipe using only rose water (no rosebuds and no delights): Instead of the Turkish delights use 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with the 1/4 cup milk (milk must be cold). You will then continue according to the instructions, heating the mixture until the corn starch starts to coagulate and the mixture thickens. You’ll also have to add 1 more tablespoon of rose water.
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)