Elderflower ice cream

A spring ice cream with elderflower syrup and lemon zest — floral, fresh and egg-free.

Elderflower syrup is a pantry staple in both Slovakia and Czechia, and it works beautifully in ice cream, bringing both the scent of the flowers and most of the sugar. The syrup goes into the base only once it has cooled, so the heat doesn’t drive off its delicate aromas. Lemon zest brightens the floral flavour without curdling the milk the way juice would.

Type: Classic cream ice cream · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 500 g whole milk 3.5 %
  • 330 g whipping cream 33 %
  • 30 g skimmed milk powder
  • 60 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 30 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 150 g elderflower syrup (thick, homemade or shop-bought)
  • 3 g grated lemon zest (from 1 unwaxed lemon)

Making the mix

  1. Mix the skimmed milk powder and dextrose with the granulated sugar (mixed dry, they won’t form lumps).
  2. Heat the milk and cream in a pan to about 60 °C, then whisk in the sugar and milk powder mixture and keep stirring until it has completely dissolved.
  3. Add the lemon zest, take off the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.
  4. Cool the mix quickly in a bowl set in iced water.
  5. Stir the elderflower syrup into the chilled mix. Taste — shop-bought syrups vary in sweetness.
  6. Cover and age in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch on the ice cream maker 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Pour in the chilled mix no higher than the fill line (with a smaller bowl, churn in two batches) and churn for 30–40 minutes, until it has the consistency of thick whipped cream.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer for 2 hours.

Total time: 7 h 45 min

Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker

  1. Take the frozen bowl out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
  2. With the machine running, pour in the chilled mix — no more than two-thirds full; freeze the rest as a second batch.
  3. Churn for 20–30 minutes, until the ice cream thickens. There’s no point going longer — by then the bowl has warmed up.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container and leave to harden in the freezer for 3 hours.

Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours beforehand (until you can no longer hear the coolant sloshing inside). The mix must be thoroughly chilled.

Total time: 8 h 35 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Divide the chilled mix between CREAMi tubs, filling each no higher than the MAX line (a full batch makes about two standard tubs).
  2. Put the lids on and freeze on a level surface for 24 hours.
  3. Place a tub in the machine and run the Ice Cream program.
  4. If the ice cream is crumbly or powdery, run Re-spin (many users add 1–2 tablespoons of milk first).

Programme: Ice Cream

A standard tub holds about 470 ml, a Deluxe tub about 700 ml. Don’t fill above the MAX line, and freeze it level — the machine doesn’t handle an uneven block well.

Total time: 29 h 15 min

Method — No-machine method

  1. Pour the chilled mix into a deep metal or glass container (a baking dish, for example) and put it in the freezer.
  2. After 45 minutes, stir the mix thoroughly with a whisk, spatula or stick blender, working the frozen edges into the centre.
  3. Repeat every 30 minutes, 4–5 times in all, until the ice cream is thick and smooth.
  4. Leave to harden for another hour.

Without a machine you get more ice crystals and less air, so the ice cream is denser. Every stir breaks up the crystals, so don’t skip any.

Total time: 9 h 10 min

Stages

Preparation
15 min
Cooking
10 min
Resting
15 min
Cooling
30 min
Ageing in the fridge
4 h
Churning
35 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
7 h 45 min

Serving and storage

With strawberries, rhubarb compote, or fresh elderflowers as a garnish (washed flower heads only, without the stalks).

In a sealed container with cling film pressed onto the surface it’s best within a week; after that, ice crystals start to build up. Never refreeze ice cream that has melted.

Tips

  • The calculation assumes a syrup with about 60 % sugar. With a thinner syrup, use more of it and reduce the sugar; with a thicker one, do the opposite.
  • Don’t pour syrup containing citric acid into warm milk — it could curdle. The cold mix can take it.
  • You can make the same ice cream with lavender, linden blossom or rose syrup.

Why it works

Syrup is essentially a solution of sugar in water, with flavour. It replaces most of the granulated sugar but also brings water — that’s why the recipe has more milk powder, which balances out the water and keeps total solids within range.

Sources