Lactose-free cream ice cream
Classic vanilla cream ice cream made with lactose-free milk and cream — it tastes like the ordinary kind but is suitable for lactose intolerance.
With lactose intolerance you don’t need to reach for plant-based substitutes — lactose-free milk and cream are widely available in shops. The recipe differs from the classic in one respect: lactose-free dairy products are sweeter and soften ice cream more, so it uses less dextrose. It is healthier mainly for people with an intolerance; in calories and fat it matches ordinary cream ice cream (about 195 kcal per 100 g). It isn’t suitable for a milk protein allergy — the protein remains in lactose-free milk.
Type: Classic cream ice cream · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Moderate
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g lactose-free whole milk 3.5 %
- 320 g lactose-free whipping cream 33 %
- 110 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
- 30 g dextrose (glucose powder)
- 1.5 g locust bean gum (carob gum, E410)
- 3 g vanilla pod (1 pod)
Making the mix
- Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds.
- Mix the dry sugar, dextrose and locust bean gum.
- Heat the milk, cream, vanilla seeds and pod to 40 °C and, stirring constantly, pour in the dry mix.
- Heat to 85 °C and hold for 2 minutes. Don’t boil.
- Cool in iced water, cover and leave to age in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Remove the pod.
Method — Compressor ice cream maker
- Switch on the ice cream maker 5–10 minutes in advance so the bowl pre-chills.
- Pour in the chilled mix (no higher than the fill line) and churn for 30–40 minutes until it has the consistency of a thick cream.
- Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for about 120 minutes.
Total time: 7 h 30 min
Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker
- Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours in advance. Take it out just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
- With the machine running, pour in the thoroughly chilled mix — filling the bowl no more than two-thirds full; freeze the rest as a second batch.
- Churn for 20–30 minutes until the mix thickens. Going on longer is pointless — the bowl has already warmed up.
- Transfer to a chilled container and leave to harden in the freezer.
Total time: 8 h 20 min
Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines
- Pour the mix into the CREAMi tub up to the MAX line (one or two tubs, depending on their size), put the lid on and freeze level for 24 hours.
- Put the tub in the machine and run the Ice Cream program.
- If the result is crumbly or powdery, add 1–2 tablespoons of lactose-free milk and run Re-spin — with a very cold freezer even twice.
Programme: Ice Cream
Total time: 29 h
Stages
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 10 min
- Cooling
- 30 min
- Ageing in the fridge
- 4 h
- Churning
- 35 min
- Hardening in the freezer
- 2 h
- Total time
- 7 h 30 min
Serving and storage
From the freezer, let it stand for 5–10 minutes. As a base it suits any fruit or sauce — check those for lactose too.
In a sealed container with cling film on the surface, up to a week.
Tips
- Ordinary milk powder contains about 50 % lactose, which is why the recipe doesn’t use it. If you can find lactose-free milk powder, 30 g will thicken the ice cream.
- For a chocolate version, use dairy-free dark chocolate — milk and white chocolate contain lactose.
- For a richer ice cream, add 3–4 egg yolks and proceed as for a custard base (crème anglaise), to 82–84 °C.
Why it works
In lactose-free products the enzyme lactase splits milk sugar (lactose) into glucose and galactose. One molecule becomes two smaller ones — these lower the freezing point about twice as much as lactose and are also sweeter. The almost 5 g of lactose in 100 g of milk therefore behaves like extra added dextrose. If you used an ordinary recipe, the ice cream would be softer and sweeter; that is why there is less dextrose here. The app counts these sugars as glucose and galactose, not as lactose, and rates the mix as lactose-free.