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
Plan: what to do and when
The whole recipe takes 7 h 30 min, of which 25 min is hands-on — the rest is waiting you can spend elsewhere.
The making itself fits into a single day — start at least 7 h 30 min before serving.
- Prepare the mix (weigh and stir the ingredients) — 15 min
- Cook the mix — 10 min
- Cool the mix down — 30 min
- Let the mix age in the fridge — 4 h
- Churn in the machine — 35 min
- Let it harden in the freezer — 2 h
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.
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Articles that mention this recipe
Lactose-free and vegan ice cream
How much lactose most people can tolerate, why lactose-free ice cream is softer and what coconut, cashew, oats or soya bring to the table.
Which cream and which milk to use in ice cream
How much fat, milk solids and water milk, cream, milk powder and condensed milk each bring — and what happens to the mix when you swap cream for milk.
How we calculate the composition · What PAC and POD mean · Balance this mix in the calculator