This homemade cranberry ice cream is bursting with tart, tangy cranberry flavor wrapped up in a delicious creamy ice cream that's great for the holidays.
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Celebrate the festive season with this luscious cranberry ice cream. The juicy cranberries with a hint of orange provide a bright contrast to the smooth creamy ice cream.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Holiday flavors of cranberry and orange.
- Try it instead of cranberry sauce with your favorite holiday dessert.
- Great for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Looking for more fabulous holiday recipes? Why not try making my cranberry cheesecake drizzled with drool worthy cranberry sauce with Grand Marnier and decorated with gourgious sugared cranberries. Delicious!
What to serve it with
Mix things up these holidays by serving cranberry ice cream in place of cranberry sauce. Try serving it with
- Pies including pumpkin pie, apple pie and even pecan pie
- Crisps, crumbles and cobblers including apple and sweet potato
- Brownies
- Yule log
Need some more delicious ice cream recipe inspiration? Check out my full list of Cuisinart ice cream maker recipes (that work well with other brands of ice cream makers too!)
Ingredients
Cranberries: frozen cranberries are the easiest to get, but you can use fresh cranberries if you can get them.
Sour cream: full-fat sour cream is best in this recipe and will give you the best flavor.
Orange juice: a dash of orange juice brightens up this ice cream. Fresh is always better
Thickened cream: I use thickened cream which has a fat content of about 34%. You could also use heavy cream or heavy whipping or whipping cream which is similar.
Tapioca starch: is a natural and accessible way of both thickening and stabilizing the ice cream. If you can't get tapioca starch you can use arrowroot powder or cornflour in the same volume.
Glucose syrup: also called confectioner’s glucose. You can get in from specialty baking shops, online and some supermarkets. A small amount of glucose syrup helps lower the freezer point of ice cream and improves the texture and scoopability.
You can substitute with the same amount of light corn syrup or powdered dextrose. Measure carefully, preferably using a digital kitchen scale, and don't add too much or your ice cream will melt in a red hot minute!
How to make cranberry ice cream
See the full recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient amounts and instructions.
If you are using fresh cranberries give them a wash first, if using frozen make sure they are fully defrosted. Blitz the cranberries in a deep-sided jug with an immersion blender. Strain the blitzed cranberries.
Make the ice cream base. Put the tapioca starch into a small bowl. Measure the cream and add a couple of tablespoons of the measured cream to the tapioca starch. Mix well to form a slurry.
Add the rest of the cream to a pot on the stove with the sugar, glucose syrup and sour cream. Mix well and heat on low for a few minutes until fully mixed and the sugar and syrup are fully dissolved.
Add the tapioca starch slurry, stir well and heat for another couple of minutes. Remove from the heat. Allow the mix to cool before transferring to a heat-proof container. Chill in the fridge.
Slice, juice and measure the orange juice. Add the strained, blitzed cranberries to the cooled ice cream base, along with the orange juice. Mix well. Cover and chill in the fridge for about four hours, ideally overnight.
Put your ice cream storage container in the freezer to chill. If you have a self-chilling ice cream machine turn it on about ten minutes before churning your ice cream for it to chill. Otherwise wise remove your freezer bowl from the freezer right before churning.
Add the ice cream mix and churn the ice cream. It will be the consistency of soft serve when done. Transfer to the chilled container and freeze until firm.
How to serve
To serve this easy cranberry ice cream scoop into a bowl and enjoy! Fabulous on its own or with some of my boozy cranberry sauce with Grand Marnier drizzled over the top. Great for Thanksgiving or the holidays!
How to store
This homemade cranberry ice cream can be stored in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to weeks. After this it will still be fine to eat, but may start to go icer over time.
Recipe tips and frequently asked questions
Can I use fresh cranberries?
Yes you can use fresh cranberries in the same volume just make sure you wash them first.
Can I use cranberry sauce instead of cranberries?
In theory, yes, you could use cranberry sauce, however I have not tested the recipe with this substitution. If you want to give it a go I recommend blitzing and straining the sauce first, otherwise you may end up with hard, icy pices of cranberries in your ice cream.
If you do decide to give it a go let me know how it goes in the comments below!
Have you made this recipe? Tell me how it went in the comments below and tag me on instagram so I can see your delicious creations! @keep_calm_and_eat_icecream
More holiday dessert recipe inspration
Why not try making
- Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream
- Mini Biscoff Cheesecakes
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
- Oreo Turkey Cookies
- Pumpkin Pretzels
Follow me on Facebook or Pinterest for many more delicious recipes.
📋 Recipe
Cranberry Ice Cream
Equipment
- ice cream maker or churner
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ 12 ounce bags (18 ounces/510gms total) frozen cranberries
- 2 teaspoons (5gms) tapioca starch
- 1 & ¼ cup (300mls) thickened cream
- ¾ cup (165gms) white sugar
- ½ slightly heaped tablespoon (20gms) glucose syrup
- ⅔ cup (150mls) sour cream
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
I highly recommend measuring by weight and mls instead of cups. You will get better, more consistent results!
- Defrost: the frozen cranberries. Blitz and strain. Chill until needed.
- Put: the tapioca starch into a small bowl. Measure the cream and transfer two tablespoons to the bowl with the tapioca starch and mix to form a slurry.
- Add: the rest of the cream, sugar, glucose syrup and sour cream to a pot on the stove. Heat on medium-low for a few mins until just simmering, stirring often to mix in the sugar and glucose syrup.
- Add: the tapioca starch slurry and mix well. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Chill until needed.
- Add: the blitzed, strained cranberries to the ice cream base. Mix well.
- Slice: juice and measure the orange juice. Add to the rest the ice cream and mix well.
- Cover: and chill in the fridge for at least four hours, preferably overnight.
- Put your ice cream storage container into the freezer to chill. If you are using a self chilling churner turn it on ten mins before to chill. Churn the ice cream. It will be the consistency of soft-serve when done. Cover and freeze for at least four hours, or until firm.
- To serve remove from the freezer scoop and enjoy. Fabulous on its own or with some of my easy cranberry sauce drizzled over the top. Delicious!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online database. The nutritional content of ingredients may vary by brand. If you require accurate nutritional information, you should calculate this based on the specific brands and products you are using.
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