No-Churn Roasted Plum Ice Cream
To make no-churn roasted plum ice cream, halve and pit plums, toss them with honey, and roast at 200 °C for about 25 minutes until soft and jammy — roasting concentrates their flavour and colour. Mash or purée the cooled roasted plums. Whip 2 cups of cold cream to stiff peaks, fold in one 300 mL can of sweetened condensed milk with vanilla, then swirl the plum through. Freeze in a loaf pan at least 6 hours. No ice cream maker needed.
Plums don’t get as much ice-cream love as peaches or berries, which is a shame — roasted, they turn into one of the most striking flavours of the whole summer: deep, jammy, honeyed, and tart, with a colour like stained glass. This no-churn version needs no machine and no custard, just a hot oven and a loaf pan.
Roast the plums
This is the step that makes it. Roasting the plums with a little honey drives off water and concentrates them into an intense, ruby jam — far more flavourful than raw fruit, and it won’t freeze into icy shards. Halve, pit, toss with honey and lemon, and roast cut-side up until soft and bubbling. Twenty-five minutes, hands-off.
Italian prune plums are especially good here — firm, freestone, and beautifully tart — but any ripe plums work.
The no-churn base
Same reliable method as all no-churn: whipped cream for air, sweetened condensed milk to keep it scoopable. Whip cold cream to stiff peaks, fold in the condensed milk with vanilla and a pinch of salt, then swirl the cooled plum through. Cool the plum completely first — warm fruit deflates the cream.
Swirl, don’t mix
For ribbons of jammy plum in a pale base, dollop the purée over the base and drag a knife through just a few times. Mix it fully and you’ll get a lovely (if uniform) pink ice cream instead.
Make it yours
- Plum-vanilla-bean: use real vanilla bean in the base.
- Spiced: roast the plums with a cinnamon stick or star anise.
- Honey-almond: scatter toasted almonds in as you layer.
- Boozy: a tablespoon of port or amaretto in the base keeps it extra soft.
Freeze overnight and you’ve turned a basket of late-summer plums into a litre of ruby-swirled ice cream — the sophisticated one in the freezer.
At a glance
No-Churn Roasted Plum Ice Cream
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Heat oven to 200 °C. Toss plums with honey and lemon; roast cut-side up 20–25 minutes until soft and jammy. Cool completely, then mash or purée.
- Whip the cold cream to stiff peaks.
- Stir the condensed milk with vanilla and salt; fold gently into the whipped cream.
- Dollop the cooled plum over the base and swirl through with a knife, leaving ribbons.
- Freeze in a loaf pan, covered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Rest 5 minutes before scooping.
Frequently asked questions
Why roast the plums first?
Roasting drives off water and concentrates the plums into a deep, jammy, honeyed purée — far more flavourful than raw fruit, and it won't freeze into icy shards the way raw plum would. It also brings out a gorgeous ruby colour. Twenty-five minutes in a hot oven does all the work.
Which plums should I use?
Any ripe plums — red, black, or the small Italian prune plums that come in late summer. Prune plums are especially good here: they're firm, freestone, and roast down into an intense, slightly tart jam that plays beautifully against the sweet cream base.
How do I get a nice swirl instead of pink ice cream?
Cool the roasted plum completely, then dollop it over the cream base and drag a knife through just a few times. If you fully mix it in, you get uniform pink ice cream (still delicious); a few gentle passes leave ribbons of jammy plum in a pale base.