No-Churn Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

 This recipe is basically just liquid Key lime pie meeting whipped cream, as it should be.

Isn’t it always so nice to reconnect with old friends? I recently got into contact with a childhood friend of mine who I’ll call D, and I sent her a link to this blog. She expressed interest in a no-churn recipe.

No-churn ice cream is easy and accessible. All you need is a can of condensed milk and a pint of cream. However, I have always hesitated with no-churn ice cream recipes because I anticipated them having several big problems: 

1. Having a greasy mouthfeel 

2. Melting too quickly 

3. Being way too sweet

I kept wondering what flavor might help mitigate those issues, and then it hit me—Key lime pie.

Yay, I finally get to use this tray I bought at a souvenir shop! 

I don’t mind doxxing myself just a little bit. D and I both grew up in Florida. She’s since moved away, so I thought this would be perfect to give her a little taste of her former home. The tartness of lime juice helps cut though the extra fat and sweetness in typical no-churn recipes. Additionally, graham crackers and fresh lime zest add great texture!

Most no-churn recipes are also no-cook, but this one does require the stovetop. Please don’t click away yet! I know it’s less convenient, and I know you can probably still make a decent ice cream base using just cream, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice, but I really wanted to add egg yolks since they're in Key lime pie anyways.

In ice cream, it’s important to note that you need to cook egg yolks not just to pasteurize them but also to take advantage of their emulsification properties. Egg yolks can keep no-churn ice cream from melting too quickly. For more information about egg yolks in ice cream, please check out this post.

At the end of the day, this recipe is basically just liquid Key lime pie meeting whipped cream, as it should be. 

 Also, a quick note on limes: Purists may disagree, but you really don’t need to seek out Key limes to make great Key lime pie (or, in this case, a no-churn Key lime pie ice cream). A family member of mine makes my favorite Key lime pie in the whole world, and when he once made it with regular limes, no one could taste the difference. For this reason, I used regular limes in this recipe. You can still get a taste of Florida even without special limes.

The flavor of Key lime pie in this ice cream is unmistakable, and it tastes fresher and more flavorsome than storebought Key lime pie. It’s sweet yet tart, flavorful, scoopable, and doesn’t melt too quickly. My only nitpick is that it’s a little icy, but it’s still probably less icy than most no-churn recipes, and it didn’t seem to bother anyone who tried it. It’s also delectable between two graham crackers as an ice cream sandwich. I’ve included instructions below for making them.

This one’s for you, D! I hope you enjoy this little scoop of Florida!

No-Churn Key Lime Pie Recipe

Ingredients

For the mix-in:

·       Graham crackers

·       Refined coconut oil

For the ice cream:

Part 1

·       1 ⅔ cup (380 g) sweetened condensed milk (this is the same as 1 can of sweetened condensed milk)*

·       ¼ teaspoon salt (1.54 g)

·       56 g egg yolks (3 egg yolks)

·       Zest of 1 lime

Part 2

·       2 tablespoons (30 g) water

·       ½ cup (124 g) lime juice (juice of 5 limes)

·       Zest of 0-2 limes (add if you want flecks of lime zest for texture and visual appeal in the final product—I used 1 but felt like I could have used 2)

Part 3

·       2 cups (454 g) heavy cream (this is the same as 1 pint of heavy cream)*

For the ice cream sandwiches:

·       Half a batch of Key lime pie no-churn ice cream

·       Graham crackers

Directions

Directions for the mix-in:

1.       Crush graham crackers into a suitable size (about 1 centimeter or a bit less than ½ an inch). You can achieve this by using your hands, putting the cookies in a resealable bag and bashing them with a mallet, or putting them into a food processor and pressing the “pulse” button as many times as needed. Don’t ask me how many graham crackers to use, because it’s your life, and you should use as many as you want. Also, I forgot to measure. I’m sorry!

2.       If you want your graham crackers to stay crunchy, toss them in a bowl or a bag with unflavored coconut oil (probably about 2-3 tablespoons of it) until the cookies are completely coated with oil. Strain off any excess oil, and put the graham cracker crumbles into the freezer until ready to use.

Directions for the ice cream:

1. Mix or blend all of the ingredients in Part 1. Set it in a pot over medium heat until it reaches 175-180 F, AKA 79.4-82.2 C (if you don’t have a thermometer, just cook it until it thickens and you don’t feel like you'll sue me if you get salmonella). Stir constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so the eggs don’t curdle too much. 

2. Strain out the lime zest and any curdled eggy bits and let Part 1 cool in the fridge, covered.

3. In a clean bowl, mix together all of the ingredients in Part 2. Cover and let cool in the fridge. This is extremely important—both parts 1 and 2 must be cold.

4. Put the heavy cream into a deep bowl and use a hand blender or a whisk until it reaches stiff peaks. Stiff peaks are the point at which you can dip a spoon into the cream, draw it straight up, and the cream leaves a little point or “peak” that doesn’t fall over. If you’ve ever made whipped cream before, this is exactly like that. I started with an electric mixer but switched to a whisk since it was splattering everywhere.

5. Once the ingredients in parts 1 and 2 are completely cold, take them out of the fridge and mix or blend them together.

6. Mix two spoonfuls of the whipped cream into the egg-lime mixture until homogenous, then gently fold the egg-lime mixture back into the rest of the whipped cream until no streaks of color remain. If using graham crackers as a mix-in, add them now, folding gently to combine.

7. If making ice cream sandwiches, begin those instructions now. Otherwise, put the ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover it, and freeze the ice cream overnight or until it sets. After that, it’s ready to be enjoyed!

Directions for ice cream sandwiches:

1. Line a 9 inch x 9 inch brownie tray with plastic wrap. Place a single layer of graham crackers on top of the plastic wrap.

2. Layer on half of the ice cream mixture (the ice cream sandwiches will be too tall otherwise), then cover with another layer of graham crackers. Cover the block of ice cream sandwiches in more plastic wrap and freeze overnight or until solid. With the other half of the ice cream batch, you can either make more ice cream sandwiches or just freeze it and eat it by itself.

3. Once frozen, unwrap the block of ice cream sandwiches onto a cutting board. Cut into whatever ice cream sandwich shapes you like. Freeze whatever won’t be eaten right away. Optionally, you can press the sides of the ice cream sandwich into graham cracker crumbs.

Notes

*You know what’s super weird? I originally formulated this recipe with the amounts listed on my can of sweetened condensed milk and pint of heavy cream, but when I poured them out and measured them by weight, the amounts were different by about 15-20 grams each. The amounts listed in this recipe are what I actually ended up using. If you have a little more or less than me, it should be fine. As long as you use a full pint of cream and a full can of sweetened condensed milk, you should be good to go.

Q and A

Q: Does the coconut oil add coconut flavor?

A: It depends on the kind of coconut oil you buy. You’ll want to use refined coconut oil, which has the flavor of coconut completely taken out of it. If you want to add some coconut flavor, go for unrefined.

Q: Why do parts 1 and 2 need to be super, super cold before mixing?

A: Acid makes dairy curdle. It’s how many homemade cheeses are made—cooking lemon juice with milk. Heat makes the curdling happen faster. You do not want your ice cream to curdle because you run the risk of making a really, really weird cheese instead. When adding acidic ingredients to ice cream (in this case, lime juice), you should add it at the last minute.

Q: Why do you steep lime zest, strain it out, and add more back in?

A: Because this is who I am as a person. I try not to overcomplicate things, and then I overcomplicate them even more. Also, my best guess is that cooking the lime zest with the other ingredients disperses its flavor, so I wanted to use it up for its flavor then add back fresh lime zest that adds color, flavor, and a little texture.