How to use leftover Christmas treats to flavour ice cream
Do you still have leftover Christmas treats lurking in your cupboards, but can’t stomach the thought of eating another mince pie? We have a solution for you.
Use your Christmas treats to flavour ice cream!
It’s super easy to do, and even if you don’t feel like eating it now, you can stash it away in the freezer until you fancy it.
You can make as much or as little as you want – just vary the amount of ice cream you use. We recommend using a plain flavoured ice cream, such as vanilla, as you will be adding lots of goodies to flavour it.
Step 1: Select your add-ins
Fillings can include chocolate sauce, leftover berries, cream, custard, mince pies, Christmas cake and meringues
Look through your fridge and cupboards to see what items you have leftover that you can use to flavour your ice cream.
A good ratio is ½ – 1 cup of add-ins per 2 cups (500ml) of ice cream.
You can also use liquids for flavouring such as berry or chocolate sauce, or leftover cream or custard. Use ¼ cup liquid per 500ml ice cream.
Add-in ideas:
- Crumbled Christmas cake / pudding / mince pies / panforte / stollen
- Crushed candy canes
- Crushed meringues or leftover pavlova
- Chocolate pieces
- Bruised berries
- Chopped cherries
- Chocolate, caramel or berry sauce
- Nuts (even salted nuts)
- Leftover whipped cream or custard
- Pretzels
Step 2: Soften the ice cream
The easiest way to do this is to leave it at room temperature for 10 – 15 minutes. If you’re short on time you can use the microwave, but be careful to do it gradually so you don’t end up with a milkshake.
Step 3: Prepare your add-ins
Crumble or chop any large items you are using into small pieces (eg cake, meringues, chocolate).
Combination: Christmas mince pie and chocolate sauce
Combination: Meringues, cream and berries
Combination: Christmas cake and custard
Step 4: Mix it all together!
Dump your add-ins into the bowl and mix. You may want to mix through the solid items before adding any sauces or liquids you are using. Make sure you combine everything well.
Step 5: Eat or refreeze
Depending on your preference and how soft your ice cream now is, you may want to eat it straight away.
Otherwise, get your ice cream in the freezer to firm up. You can return the ice cream to the same tub, freeze it in a lined loaf tin for easy slicing for ice cream sandwiches, or pour it into moulds to make popsicles.
Return to the freezer for a couple of hours. If you wish, once frozen, dip the popsicles in melted chocolate and then return to the freezer to allow them to set before serving.
