I genuinely believe that ice cream has no season. You can eat ice cream whenever you want to, despite the weather outside.
So, when Riya Michael of Cafeteriya reached out to me wanting to collaborate on a recipe, I was ecstatic when we ended up deciding on an ice cream recipe. And, it’s no ordinary ice cream either; it’s a churro and salted caramel ice cream.
It’s the perfect combination of crispy, sugary churros and salty, almost bitter caramel with a creamy vanilla ice cream.
For this recipe, we used Cafeteriya’s recipe for eggless churros, some salted caramel, and I developed an easy, simple recipe for vanilla ice cream. Together, it’s a banging recipe.
It’s no-churn ice cream, meaning you don’t need an ice cream-making machine. A simple whisk or an electric mixer will suffice.
You can check out Riya's beautifully made video for this recipe here.
What are churros, and what goes into this ice cream?
Churros are nothing but fried dough tossed in sugar, and usually, cinnamon. Churros have their origins tied to Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries.
They’re traditionally made with a dough made by cooking flour in milk, fats like butter, and some sugar, and then eggs are beaten into it.
Since we’re using Cafeteriya’s recipe for eggless churros, we won’t be using eggs, obviously. But, you’ll still end up with delicious, irresistible churros.
Churros are typically served with a chocolate sauce or dulce de leche/caramel.
And that’s where our inspiration for this ice cream comes from. It is a fresh plate of churros and salted caramel but in ice cream form.
These churros are relatively easy to make, they’re not very fussy, and they’re incredibly delicious.
I won’t explain much about the process of churro making because Cafeteriya’s YouTube channel has a video showing the process beautifully. You can click this to watch the video.
The next component is the salted caramel. Caramel is a little tricky to make, so you can 100% use store-bought caramel if you want to.
However, if you want to make your own, this post has a foolproof recipe for it.
This salted caramel recipe has been adapted from Tasty Pastry Kitchen’s Instagram. It is a simple caramel consisting of caster sugar, lemon juice, heavy cream, butter, and salt. The game-changing ingredient here is lemon juice.
Coating the sugar in lemon juice before cooking ensures that the sugar doesn’t crystallize. I have been using this technique since I found out about it, and it has saved my caramel from doom every time.
Last comes the ice cream base. It’s a very standard, no-churn ice cream base.
You’ll need non-dairy, sweetened whipping cream, condensed milk, and vanilla for it. I like using non-dairy whipping cream because it’s usually more stable than regular heavy/double cream.
Use any cream you want, but make sure it is cold at the time of whipping and that it has more than 35% of fat. Do not use ‘fresh cream’ for this purpose; it won’t whip.
Finally, to make this ice cream, you need to form the base and then combine everything and freeze it.
You can watch the entire process of this recipe in video form on Cafeteriya's YouTube channel.
How to serve this ice cream?
To enjoy this ice cream in all its glory, make some fresh churros at the time of serving, and consume the ice cream with them.
The contrast between the warm, crispy churros and the cold, creamy ice cream is a party for your taste buds.
What equipment do I need?
For the churros, you will need a sturdy piping bag and a star piping nozzle. You can also use a murukku/chakli extruder. If you have neither, you can also divide the dough into small balls and fry them.
To make the churro dough, you’ll need a non-stick pan and a spatula. You will also need a deep frying pan and a frying spider.
For the salted caramel, you’ll need a saucepan and a silicone spatula.
Lastly, you’ll need an electric mixer with whisk attachments and a silicone spatula for the ice cream base.
You will also require a freezer-safe container to store the ice cream.
The recipe for Churro & Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Time: 1 hour plus chilling
Makes: approx. 600 grams
INGREDIENTS
Churros (Cafeteriya’s recipe video):
130 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
120 grams (½ cup) milk
120 grams (½ cup) water
36 grams (3 tablespoons) sugar
30 grams (2 tablespoons) oil
2 grams (½ teaspoon) salt
2 grams (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
48 grams (4 tablespoons) caster sugar
8 grams (3 teaspoons) ground cinnamon (optional)
Salted Caramel:
75 grams (6 tablespoons) caster sugar
2 grams (½ teaspoon) lemon juice
40 grams (2 ¾ tablespoons) warm heavy/fresh cream
35 grams (2 ½ tablespoons) room temperature, softened butter
2 grams (½ teaspoon) salt
Ice Cream base:
360 (1 ½ cups) grams non-dairy whipping cream, cold
2 grams (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
240 grams (¾ cup) condensed milk
8-9 churros, chopped
6-7 tablespoons salted caramel (store-bought is also fine)
METHOD
Churros:
Place a pan over medium-high heat, and fill it with milk and water.
Add the sugar, oil, and salt.
Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves.
When the milk is at an almost boil, turn off the heat.
Add the flour, and keep mixing until you form a dough.
Turn the heat back on, and continue cooking the dough until it’s smooth for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract.
Transfer the dough to a different container and let it cool completely.
Now, add the dough into a piping bag fitted with a star tip or any gadget you have to shape the churros. (You can also form small balls of dough with your hands.)
Pipe the churros onto a tray lined with parchment paper (you could freeze them until firm if it’s easier).
Heat up some oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat, and fry the churros in it until they’re golden brown, about 1-2 minutes on each side.
Mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together, and toss the churros in it.
Salted Caramel:
In a clean, non-stick saucepan, add the sugar and lemon juice. Use your hands or a spatula to thoroughly coat the sugar in the lemon juice.
Place the pan on low heat and continuously stir with a silicone spatula until the sugar starts dissolving.
Keep working the sugar until all of it has dissolved and has begun turning golden brown.
Keep stirring until you achieve your perfect caramel color, usually a dark golden brown.
Add the warm cream to the caramel, and rapidly stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
Take the saucepan off the heat, and mix in the butter.
Let the caramel cool for a couple of minutes, and then mix in the salt.
Transfer to a heat-safe container, and allow the caramel to cool down completely.
Refrigerate until needed.
Ice cream:
Chop about 8-9 of the churros into 1-inch sized pieces, and set them aside. Leave a couple of churros aside to top the ice cream.
Bring the salted caramel out of the refrigerator, and keep it handy.
Whip your cream and vanilla until you achieve stiff peaks.
Fold in the condensed milk and chopped churros until the condensed milk is fully dissolved.
If you opted out the cinnamon earlier, you can add dark chocolate shavings into the ice cream mixture at this stage.
Use a spoon to swirl in the salted caramel, don’t mix it fully.
Pour the ice cream mixture into a freezer-safe container, swirl the top with some salted caramel, and finish it off with some more chopped churros.
Cover the container, and freeze the ice cream for at least 6-8 hours.
Dip the ice cream scooper in some warm water, scoop the ice cream, and serve it with some fresh churros.
Notes
You can make the churros and caramel ahead of time and then make the ice cream.
If you liked this recipe or if you try any of my recipes, share your thoughts with me on Instagram or Facebook!