Ruby Moukli with her favorite recipe for the perfect guilty pleasure.
By Ruby Moukli
OK folks, time for some 90s TV trivia. Do you remember that episode of Friends where Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to the boys after playing a trivia game? One of the questions the boys answer correctly is ‘What does Rachel claim is her favourite movie?’ (answer this in the comments and you get extra cool points!), followed up with ‘Her actual favourite movie is…’ (Weekend at Bernie’s) Well, mint ice cream is my Weekend at Bernie’s. 
My ‘smooth’ answer to the favourite ice cream question is ‘lemon sorbet’ (from La Butte Glacée in Montmartre, bien sûr), but in reality that old strip-mall stand-by, Baskin-Robbins’ mint ice cream, comes up trumps every time. Just ask my poor long-suffering family who have had to wait patiently, each and every time we hit the 31 Flavours, for me to look over the offerings, analyze my mood, indeed do everything short of taking atmospheric readings, to decide which flavour I would try that day, only to inevitably order the mint.
Now by ‘mint’ I mean either mint chocolate chip or peppermint candy. If it was available, the peppermint candy won, but I’ve yet to find it outside the US. So, when my dad’s Christmas package arrived, filled with candy canes, peppermint ice cream was top of my list. It’s a great way to use up the ones that broke in transit!
To make this, I used my basic and extremely simple ice cream recipe (cream and condensed milk) and added crushed candy canes. And that’s it. Nothing could be simpler, and nothing could put a big child-like smile on this girl’s face in quite the same way.
Candy Cane Ice Cream
Description
Makes about 900ml (3 1/2 cups)
Ingredients
- 600 ml (21 oz or about 2 1/2 cups) double or whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
- 200g (about 3/4 cup or 1/2 a tin) sweetened condensed milk (I use lowfat and can’t tell the difference)
- Approximately 5–7 regular sized peppermint candy canes, crushed (but leave a few little chunks in there for crunch)
Instructions
- Put the cream and condensed milk in a large bowl and whisk until blended.
- Add in the candy cane bits and stir until just mixed through.
- Transfer to a tupperware container for freezing.
- After an hour, remove from freezer and stir through, making sure to scrape the bottom of the container because that’s where the candy cane bits like to hide out and stick.
- Repeat the stirring after a further couple of hours, and then check once more before going to bed.
- Leave overnight for a firm set and then enjoy your ride down Memory Lane. Or is that Candy Cane Lane? Either way.
Ha! I used to “import” candy canes from the states when I lived in Germany. Your ice crem looks lovely and perfect for the season.
Thanks Lora. Lately we’ve seen candy canes turning up in UK stores, but the flavour is often not quite right. Sometimes spearmint instead of peppermint, and once I grabbed a box that turned out to be cherry – bizarre!
Ruby I’m about to say something shocking, I only ever saw like 2 episodes of Friends. Yikes, I’m so not cool. Haha! Here’s another one I haven’t had a candy cane in 9 years. I have never found them here. But when my mother-in-law asked what we wanted in our next care package I asked for candy canes. I am so going to make your ice cream. It sounds incredible and no machine needed, wohoo! Happy Holidays!!
Hey, we order ice cream the same way :) This is such a lovely idea for ice cream, and heaven knows there will always be plenty of leftover candy canes…delicious!
Nancy and Alisha, I have some of this in the freezer right now. This year my ‘rejects’ were broken bits of green and red candy canes, so the ice cream is kind of a funky colour. I also threw in some of the leftover silver balls from decorating the Xmas cookies, so it’s more of a fun one for the kids. But the taste is bang on! Happy holidays!
Oh and Nancy, for when your package arrives, another fun thing I do with a candy cane is to drink milk through it like a straw. I have now taught this to my kids and they do it too. The candy is porous, so it works well and flavours the milk all pepperminty. Not for everyday, but once a year it’s good fun. :-)