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Helado de dulce de leche (Buenos Aires dulce de leche ice cream)
Rich dulce de leche ice cream with a caramel ripple, churned or no-churn
Dulce de leche is the flavour Buenos Aires heladerías are judged by, and on a summer night the queues at neighbourhood ice-cream shops stretch out onto the pavement well after dinner. Locals order it plain, with a ripple of extra dulce de leche (dulce de leche granizado adds chocolate flakes), often by the kilo to take home. It is dense, chewy and deeply caramel. This home version is egg-free with no custard: a little cornflour cooked into the milk thickens it the way yolks would, and the dulce de leche itself is milk and sugar cooked down, its sugar and milk solids keeping crystals tiny so it stays smooth and scoopable. Churn it, or still-freeze and stir it every 45 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the extra dulce de leche before rippling it in; the common mistake is folding in a warm one, which melts into the ice cream instead of leaving ribbons.
- Total time
- 295 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the base
- 2 cups full-fat milk
- ⅞ oz cornflour
- 14 oz dulce de leche
- 1 ¼ cups double cream
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the ripple
- 4 oz dulce de lechechilled
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What you'll need
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Whisk ⅞ oz cornflour into 100 ml of the ½ cup full-fat milk until smooth.
1 minStep 2: Heat the rest of the 1 ¾ cups full-fat milk with 14 oz dulce de leche and ¼ tsp fine salt over a medium heat, whisking, until the dulce de leche melts in and the milk is steaming.
5 minStep 3: Whisk in the slurry and stir constantly over a medium-low heat for 3–4 minutes, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon; let it bubble for 1 minute more.
5 minStep 4: Take off the heat and whisk in 1 ¼ cups double cream and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Strain into a bowl, press cling film onto the surface and chill for at least 4 hours, until fridge-cold.
240 minStep 5: Churn in an ice-cream machine for 25–30 minutes, until thick and creamy like soft-serve.
28 minStep 6: No machine: freeze the base in a shallow metal tin. Every 45 minutes, whisk the frozen edges hard into the soft middle to break up the crystals; repeat 3–4 times, until evenly thick.
Step 7: Spoon a third of the ice cream into a cold tub, dot with a third of the chilled 4 oz dulce de leche and drag a knife through once. Repeat twice more; don't stir, or you lose the ribbons.
3 minStep 8: Freeze for 2 hours more, until firm but scoopable. Soften for 5 minutes at room temperature before scooping.
120 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 400 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 44 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does helado de dulce de leche (Buenos Aires dulce de leche ice cream) take?
- About 295 minutes in total: 280 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of cornflour?
- Arrowroot or potato starch, same amount.
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