• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Keep calm and eat ice cream
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Twitter
  • ×
    You are here: Home / Ice cream / Sour Cream Ice Cream

    Sour Cream Ice Cream

    Published: May 22, 2020 · Modified: Feb 22, 2022 by Sarah Brooks

    236 shares
    • Share130
    • Yummly
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe

    This sour cream ice cream is a wonderful alternative to vanilla ice cream. Great on its own or pairs beautifully with fruit desserts such as pies and crumbles.

    Sour cream ice cream close up
    Jump to:
    • What to serve with soured cream ice cream:
    • Ingredients:
    • To Make Sour Cream Ice Cream
    • Looking for more yummy dessert recipes?
    • 📋 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Sour cream is usually made by fermenting regular cream. The resulting sour cream or soured cream in the UK has a delicious creamy tang that goes equally well in both savory and sweet dishes. Its close relative creme fresh is similar but has a less sour taste (and is usually more expensive) so I do not recommend substituting sour cream for creme fresh in this recipe.

    What to serve with soured cream ice cream:

    This fresh and tangy ice cream is delicious on its own, or pairs beautifully with one of my baked fruit desserts such as:

    • Feijoa Crumble
    • Apple and Plum Crumble
    • Rhubarb Crumble
    • Pear Crumble
    • Vegan Apple Crumble
    • Apple Crisp (apple crumble)

    Ingredients:

    ice cream ingredients

    Sour cream: full-fat sour cream is best in this recipe and will give you the best flavor.

    Thickened cream: I use thickened cream in Australia which has a fat content of about 34%. You could also use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream which is similar.

    Milk: this recipe uses full-fat milk with a fat content of about 3.5%.

    Castor sugar: white sugar is best in this recipe. You could use white sugar if you prefer. I don't recommend using other types of sugar, they will be hard to dissolve and will compete with the flavors in this ice cream.

    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 (not pictured): 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 scoop-ability of the ice cream. 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 to much or your ice cream will melt in a red hot minute!

    To Make Sour Cream Ice Cream

    • Adding milk to pot
    • Adding cream to pot
    • Adding sugar to pot

    Add the milk, cream, sugar and glucose syrup to a small pot. Cook on low, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

    Adding tapioca flour to pot

    Add tapioca starch, mixing in well to get rid of all the lumps. Cook on low for five minutes, stiring frequently.

    Hot tip: don't skip cooking the tapioca starch. Its important to cook the starch for long enough to stop the ice cream having a floury taste and thicken it up enough.

    • Adding sour cream to mix
    • Blending mix with immersion blender

    Transfer to a heatproof container and cool in fridge for about 30 mins. Add sour cream and mix with an immersion blender on low for a few seconds until mix is well blended and no longer lumpy. You can try mixing by hand, however its very hard to mix in the sour cream and you will likely end up with lumpy mix. Add the lemon juice and mix well, either with a spoon or the immersion blender.

    Chill for several hours, preferably overnight.

    If using a self churning machine, turn it on about ten minutes before you churn your ice cream. Other wise take the churning bowl out of the freezer right before churning.

    • Start of churning ice cream
    • Finished ice cream in machine

    Pour mix into the machine and churn. In my Cuisinart this took about 20 minutes.

    churned ice cream

    Eat immediately or transfer to a chilled container and freeze to firm up.

    Sour cream ice cream

    This ice cream is deliciously versatile. Great on its own or it pairs beautifully with baked fruit desserts, such as my apple crumble. A wonderful alternative to vanilla ice cream.

    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

    Looking for more yummy dessert recipes?

    Why not try making

    • Easy Vanilla Ice Cream
    • 3 Ingredients Ice Cream (no churn vanilla ice cream)
    Sour cream ice cream in tin

    📋 Recipe

    Sour cream ice cream

    Sour cream ice cream

    Author: Sarah Brooks
    This sour cream ice cream a wonderful alternative to vanilla ice cream. Great on its own or pairs beautifully with fruit deserts, such as my apple crumble.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 5 mins
    Plus chilling time 4 hrs
    Total Time 4 hrs 20 mins
    Course Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine Ice cream
    Servings 6 serves (⅔ cup each), approx.
    Calories 265 kcal

    Equipment

    • ice cream churner
    • immersion blender

    Ingredients

    • 1 ½ cups full fat sour cream
    • ½ cup (125mls) thickened cream
    • ½ cup full fat milk
    • ½ cup white sugar
    • 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • ½ tablespoon (15gms) glucose syrup

    Instructions
     

    • Add milk, cream, sugar and glucose syrup to a small saucepan. Heat on low heat, stirring frequent until sugar dissolves.
    • Add tapioca starch. Stir in well, ensuring all the lumps are stirred out. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently for five minutes.
    • Chill in fridge for about 30 mins.
    • Add sour cream and blend briefly with an immersion blender. Mix in lemon juice.
    • Chill mix in fridge, ideally overnight.
    • If using a self churning machine turn on ten minutes before churning to chill, other wise take churning bowl out of freezer just before churning.
    • Churn mix in ice cream machine. It will be the consistency of soft serve when done.
    • Eat immediately or transfer to a chilled container and freeze until firm.
    • To serve remove from freezer, scoop and enjoy! Delicous on its own or pairs beautifully with baked fruit desserts, such as my apple crumble.

    Notes

    I use tapioca starch here, available in the international section of the supermarket or in Asian grocers.  If you can't get tapioca starch you can use corn starch instead but it may start to go icier more quickly in the freezer.  

    Nutrition

    Calories: 265kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 3gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 33mgPotassium: 124mgFiber: 0.01gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 681IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 0.1mg

    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.

    Keywords: ice cream machine, philadelphia style ice cream
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    Sour cream ice cream scoop
    Sour cream ice cream close up
    236 shares
    • Share130
    • Yummly
    • Tweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sylvie

      May 25, 2020 at 12:44 am

      5 stars
      I had absolutely no idea you could make ice cream with sour cream - and I LOVE the idea! I adore anything sour so this is the perfect ice cream recipe for me!

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        May 28, 2020 at 9:05 am

        Thank you Sylvie, sounds perfect for you! Goes great with baked fruit desserts to, I'm sure you have a few of those 🙂

        Reply
    2. Robyn

      May 27, 2020 at 9:43 pm

      5 stars
      Yum! What a great idea to use sour cream in ice cream. This would work so well with hot winter desserts right now.

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        May 28, 2020 at 9:06 am

        Thanks Robyn, yes exactly, a lovely refreshing change from vanilla 🙂

        Reply
    3. Sandra

      June 30, 2020 at 2:19 pm

      Certainly bookmarking this one, sounds delicious and I really like sour cream😉

      Reply
    4. Kirsten

      July 13, 2020 at 4:45 pm

      Hey how much lemon juice? It's mentioned in the instructions but not the ingredients list. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        July 14, 2020 at 2:53 am

        Hi Kirsten, 1 tablespoon. Thank-you for letting me know, I saw this when I made it again for another recipe and forgot to update it, done now. Let me know how it goes if you make it. I'm really loving it as an alternative to vanilla at the moment 🙂

        Reply
    5. Rachel IRL

      August 30, 2020 at 11:47 am

      This is sooooo compelling. I've never heard of sour cream ice cream, but the concept reminds me of cream cheese frosting a bit! I definitely want to try this on an apple pie or something similar!

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        August 30, 2020 at 1:10 pm

        It's not a well known flavour but it should be! Would defiantly be perfect with apple pie or you could try it with my apple crumble to, recipe on the blog under desserts 🙂

        Reply
    6. Bhoomika

      March 08, 2021 at 7:00 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Sarah, this is a really delicious recipe that I happened to stumble open while searching for sour cream ice cream. It’s a delightfully delicious twist on the full cream recipes. I add some strawberry preserves to the batch just for fun. But it’s a versatile recipe to enjoy in lots of ways. Yummm 😋

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        March 13, 2021 at 8:06 am

        Hi Bhoomika, I'm so glad you loved it! Strawberry preserves would be amazing in this 🙂 Its such a versatile flavor and a lovely change from vanilla.

        Reply
    7. Toni

      December 25, 2021 at 11:47 pm

      5 stars
      I am a fan of all sour cream foods. I have to try this!

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        December 26, 2021 at 12:50 am

        Hi Toni, it's such a great flavor and it's a bit different from the usual vanilla. Let me know how it goes if you make it 🙂

        Reply
    8. Donna Lamphere

      February 22, 2022 at 3:43 am

      Mine is rock hard out of the freezer. I have to thaw it out for an hour, before I can scoop any out of the container. Anybody else has this issue?

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        February 25, 2022 at 3:13 am

        Hi Donna, I'm sorry to hear that, it's really unusual for it to freeze that hard. Let's see if we can troubleshoot for you. The first thing is to check the temp of your freezer. I remember once all my ice cream started freezing rock hard, I couldn't understand what had happened until I realized my kids had changed the settings on my freezer. The second thing is to check your ingredients. If there have been any substitutions, less sugar, etc this can lead to firmer ice cream. Finally adding a little glucose syrup (1/2 tablespoon or 15 gms) can help keep it scoopable straight from the freezer. Cheers, Sarah

        Reply
    9. Terry

      March 12, 2022 at 10:07 pm

      "Castor sugar: white sugar is best in this recipe. You could use white sugar if you prefer."
      So...White sugar, or...white sugar? I'm not familiar with castor sugar; is it different from white sugar (e.g., extra fine) or is this a particular brand?

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        March 14, 2022 at 1:01 am

        Hi Terry, castor sugar is just a finer version of white sugar. It will dissolve slightly easier than regular white sugar but you can use either.

        Reply
    10. Tara L Armbruster

      March 23, 2022 at 4:25 pm

      Do you have to have an ice cream churn to make sour cream ice cream?

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        March 24, 2022 at 9:15 am

        Hi Tara, you don't have to but the texture won't be as good. The simplest way to make this recipe without an ice cream churn is to whisk and freeze.
        Make the base as per the recipe until you get to the churning part. Put the ice cream into your chilled container and freeze for one hour. Working quickly remove the ice cream from the freezer and whisk it, taking care to scrape the edges which will start to freeze first.

        Return to the freezer for another hour. Remove and whisk again. Repeat for another two to three times or until the ice cream resembles soft-serve ice cream. Once it reaches this stage allow it to continue freezing until firm.

        Reply
    11. Lise James

      April 27, 2022 at 9:46 am

      I traveled to Costa Rica in the 90s. In the main city of San Jose, there was an ice cream place that reminded me of Baskin Robbins. I didn't speak Spanish, and the employee didn't speak English. I just pointed at one of the tubs that looked like Vanilla and indicated that I wanted 2 scoops in a waffle cone. It was definitely not vanilla. When I attempted to find out what this delicious flavored ice cream was the language barrier proved to be impossible. Then one of the customers spoke up and asked the girl what the flavor was in Spanish, he then turned to me and said in English, It is Sour Cream Ice Cream. After he said it, it totally made sense. That light taste with a subtle amount of tang. I had never heard of such a thing but it was the most delicious ice cream I had ever had. I finished my two-scoop cone and went right up and ordered another 2 scoop cone because I knew I would probably never have that delicious ice cream ever again. I never have. I decided to google Sour Cream Ice Cream and came across your homemade recipe. I am afraid to try as I have never made ice cream before, but it certainly is tempting.

      Reply
      • Sarah Brooks

        April 28, 2022 at 9:05 am

        It's certainly unusual but very delicious, I recommend you give it a go! This recipe is made without eggs so its a bit easier than some of the other ones. It pairs perfectly with baked fruit desserts such as pies and crumbles.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Sarah and Damian eating ice cream

    Ice cream from my favourite ice cream shop on our wedding - we even gave the guests gift vouchers for ice cream!

    Hi I’m Sarah and welcome to Keep Calm and Eat Ice-cream.

    I’ll be sharing all the things I love about ice-cream, eating it, making it, reviewing it, bathing it in (kidding) and all the things in between. So sit back, grab a scoop and come on a delicious journey with me

    Recipe of the month
    Biscoff Cheesecake

    Cheesecake on a serving board with serving wear, jar of Biscoff and Biscoff cookies and slice of cake in background.

    Latest ice cream recipes

    Close up peanut butter ice cream in a bowl with roasted peanuts.

    Peanut Butter Ice Cream

    Close up three scoops dulce de leche ice cream with drizzle.

    Dulce De Leche Ice Cream

    Close up of three scoops of ice cream in a bowl.

    Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

    More ice cream recipes

    Latest popsicle recipes

    Close up popsicles surrounded by fresh pineapple, cherries and cherry leaves.

    Pineapple Cherry Popsicles

    Close up Popsicles surrounded by fresh cherries and mango.

    Cherry Mango Popsicles

    Close up of strawberry jello popsicle with mini strawberry jello molds.

    Jello popsicles

    More popsicle recipes

    Latest dessert recipes

    Close up Oreo turkey cookies

    Oreo Turkey Cookies

    Milkshake in a mason jar with a straw, whipped cream, banana chip crumbs and a cherry on top.

    Banana Milkshake

    Group of three sundaes, classic, strawberry and caramel, with whipped cream, nuts, sprinkles, wafers and cherry, on a plate with spoons, nuts and sprinkles.

    Ice Cream Sundae

    More dessert recipes

    Short on time? - Check out our recipes and collections as web stories.

    Web Stories

    Check out more tasty recipes

    Most shared posts

    Cheesecake on a serving board with serving wear, jar of Biscoff and Biscoff cookies and slice of cake in background.

    Biscoff Cheesecake

    Shares: 2011

    Close up slice of caramilk cheesecake on a plate with a fork with rest of cake and caramilk chocolate in the background.

    Caramilk cheesecake

    Shares: 2461

    Close up passion fruit cheesecake with passion fruit coulis, a vintage fork in front, fresh passion fruit and passion fruit leave on the side.

    Passion fruit cheesecake

    Shares: 969

    Passion fruit coulis in a glass jar with a vintage spoon in front and fresh, cut open passion fruit and passion fruit leaves on the side, on a wooden chopping board.

    Passion fruit coulis

    Shares: 836

    Lemon, lime and bitters popsicles with fresh lemon and limes.

    Lemon, lime and bitters popsicles

    Shares: 797

    Footer

    About

    • About
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms and Conditions

    Newsletter





    Social Media

    Follow me on your favorite social media and recipe sharing channels

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2022 Sarah Brooks