I’ve been wanting to make homemade ice cream for a while – I think since last summer, and here we are right in the middle of February! Though I’m really not too proud of my procrastination tendencies, the nice thing about living in Arizona is that it was a HOT and SUNNY 88 blasted degrees this week, so ice cream felt like the right thing to do.
Now, I ADORE almost any kind of ice cream! If I had to pick, my very favorite store-bought flavor would have to be Tilamook’s Salted Caramel Hazelnut. Seriously, I love it so much that if I ever had a daughter I would name her Hazelnut.
Yeah. I love it that much. But this ice cream is definitely the best homemade I’ve ever made.
So…
What’s lovely about this Homemade Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream?
- It has a bright and true raspberry flavor and such a pretty pink color, which comes only from finely crushed freeze dried raspberries. You can find them at Trader Joe’s (best price I found) or in the grocery store near the canned and dried fruit.
- Because you are making it yourself, you know all the ingredients going in and can even pronounce them!
- The “cheesecake” ribbon that runs through the raspberry ice cream is really just sweetened cream cheese and crushed graham crackers, so you don’t have to go to all the trouble of making an actual cheesecake and cutting it up into little pieces, but you still get that cheesecake flavor.
I loved the way this ice cream tasted in a good old fashioned sugar cone. Make sure you have some on hand when you make it. And don’t be a procrastinator like me and wait too long to make this. Seize the day, my friends. You’ll be so glad you did!
Did you make this recipe?
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Homemade Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Ten 1/2-cup servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made with finely crushed freeze dried raspberries, this super creamy ice cream has a beautiful natural pink color and true raspberry flavor.
Ingredients
For the Ice Cream
- 1.2 ounce package freeze dried raspberries
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
For the Cheesecake Ribbon
- 4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
Instructions
- In a blender*, crush raspberries finely. Add milk and sugar and blend on low speed until dissolved. Add heavy cream and blend once more until mixed well.
- Pour the raspberry and cream mixture into the ice cream maker according to directions. I let mine churn for about 25 minutes.
- While the ice cream is churning, add the cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar and heavy cream to a medium bowl and mix with electric mixer until smooth.
- When the ice cream has thickened, pour half into a loaf pan or other container. Spread half of the sweetened cream cheese mixture over the ice cream and sprinkle half of the graham cracker crumbs over the top. Add the other half of the ice cream, cream cheese, and graham cracker crumbs and swirl with a knife. Cover and freeze until firm.
Notes
*You can make this recipe without a blender if needed. Just crush the raspberries in a Ziploc bag with a heavy rolling pin or mallet. Use an electric mixer and a large bowl to mix the finely crushed raspberries, milk, sugar, and cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 328
- Sugar: 23g
- Sodium: 80mg
- Fat: 24g
- Saturated Fat: 14g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.2g
- Trans Fat: 0.6g
- Carbohydrates: 27g
- Fiber: 1.8g
- Protein: 3.5g
- Cholesterol: 71mg
Charlotte @ whatcharlottebaked says
This ice cream looks lush 🙂
I love that there is no food colouring in this, and the colour comes from the raspberries.
Julie says
Charlotte, Thanks you! I was so pleasantly surprised how much flavor and color the freeze dried raspberries added. Can’t wait to try other fruits!
aimee @ like mother like daughter says
This looks like the best ice cream ever Julie! I love raspberries and cheesecake ice cream so much, YUM!
Julie says
Thanks Aimee… I loved it waaaay too much!
Hannah Lewallen says
This ice cream looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it! However, I’m having a very difficult time finding the freeze dried raspberries, is there possibly a substitute ? Could I use fresh maybe?
Julie says
Sure, Hannah. You could puree fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries in place of the freeze dried. I would say about four cups of fresh raspberries just based on other ice cream recipes I’ve looked at.
Louise Ibbotson says
I have a pkg of dried cherries. Would that work?
Julie says
Hi Louise, thanks for your question. If I’m picturing them right, I think dried cherries wouldn’t be quite the same here. They need to be very dry and airy, so that when they are crushed the turn to powder.
Louise Ibbotson says
Ok I think you’re exactly right. I wondered about that. Thanks for your prompt reply! I don’t know where to find freeze dried fruit. I’ll have to google it!
Louise Ibbotson says
Holy! I just checked and freeze dried strawberries, are $39.95 at Walmart here in Alberta. Now it could be a lot, but it just seems like a lot!
Julie says
Oh no! There are usually small bags near the canned fruit that are around $3-5. I feel like I’m paying a lot for a bag of very little but the flavor is very concentrated and the color is beautiful.