Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Craving cheesecake but too hot to bake? This no cook eggless Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream layered with strawberry sauce and graham cracker crumbs will satisfy your sweet tooth even during summer’s hottest days.

I’m not sure who deemed July as National Ice Cream Month, but that person knew what they were talking about.

A whole month dedicated to summer’s finest dessert – I’m in!

There’s actually a National Ice Cream Day on July 17, but I’d much rather celebrate all 31 days.

Cheesecake milkshakes, peanut butter ice cream cake, churro ice cream sandwich, 1 pint of German chocolate ice cream.

If it involves ice cream, I’m eating it. The question is – where do I start first?

With homemade ice cream, of course! Since it’s too hot to bake a strawberry swirl cheesecake, I turned my favorite dessert into freshly churned homemade Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream layered with strawberry sauce and graham cracker crumbs.

The base is reminiscent of a slice of creamy cheesecake without having to set up a water bath.

The best part is this recipe for strawberry cheesecake ice cream is made without eggs, so you don’t need to cook the base. Throw all of the ingredients into a blender then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Ingredients For Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

To get started with your strawberry cream cheese ice cream, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Cream cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese that comes in blocks (not fat-free, whipped, or in a tub).
• Whole milk: Fat is important in ice cream as it contributes to the creaminess of the base. If you used skim or 2% milk (which have a higher water content), the ice crystals would be more prominent.
• Heavy cream: Also contributes to a rich and creamy base with minimal ice crystals.
• Sugar: Not only does it sweeten your base, sugar also controls the amount of ice crystals formed during freezing.
• Vanilla: Amplifies the other flavors, much like salt.
• Salt: Takes your ice cream base from bland to great.
• Graham cracker crumbs: It isn’t cheesecake without graham crackers! I bet chocolate graham crackers would work wonderfully too.
• Strawberry sauce: I made a homemade strawberry sauce, but you can also layer in strawberry jam without pectin or strawberry curd.

Not in the mood for strawberries? You can easily substitute cherries, blueberries or raspberries.

Do you need eggs for Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream?

Because of the additional fat added from the cream cheese, you don’t need to add egg yolks, making this an eggless cheesecake recipe.

That’s a plus for me because I go through so many eggs while baking.

Especially since I end up with leftover egg whites in the fridge from making most ice cream recipes, leaving me to wonder what to do with egg whites.

For those of you with an egg allergy, great news! You can now eat this eggless ice cream.

Equipment Needed To Make Ice Cream

Although an ice cream maker isn’t necessary, it certainly will make your life easier. In fact, once you buy one you will want to make all of my small batch ice cream recipes.

Even though my ice cream recipes only make 1 pint, I still use this 1.5 quart ice cream maker (Amazon affiliate link).

That way I know I have enough room to churn (as well as the flexibility to scale up if I make ice cream for family visiting).

How To Make Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

First, make sure your ice cream maker canister is in the freezer. Mine takes about 18-24 hours to freeze before I can churn.

Once you’re ready to make your ice cream base, add your cream cheese, milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt to a blender. Blend until super smooth, making sure there aren’t any lumps from the cream cheese.

Transfer your mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until cold.

It’s important your base is cold for churning. It’ll take less time to freeze, which means less time for ice crystals to form.

How To Freeze Ice Cream

When you’re ready to churn, follow the directions for your ice cream maker. For 1 pint of ice cream, you only need to churn for about 15 minutes for the base to solidify.

If you’re freezing your ice cream by hand, pour your ice cream base into a baking pan with deep edges.

After freezing 45 minutes, whisk the mixture, breaking up any already-frozen sections (you’re beating the ice crystals, so it’s important to whisk everything). Return to the freezer.

Repeat this process every 30 minutes until the ice cream is completely frozen. This will take about 2-3 hours total.

Once your ice cream is about 90% solid, layer in your sauce and graham cracker crumbs. At this point, you will want to transfer to a freeze-proof container with a lid.

How To Store Homemade Ice Cream

Storing ice cream is almost as important as making it because if you don’t freeze it properly, your ice cream will have ice crystals forming on the outside and possibly even become freeze burnt.

I use these small round freezer-proof plastic containers, which hold exactly 1 pint of ice cream.

You can easily find them (or something similar) in the storage container aisle of most stores. Make sure it says freeze-proof as not all containers are created equal.

Enjoyed this recipe? Check out my other Small Batch Ice Cream Recipes you can make.

More Strawberry Recipes

• Strawberry Popsicles
• Strawberry Slushies
• Strawberry Cheesecake Dip
• Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
• Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Adapted from Joy The Baker

Originally published July 4, 2016