Cherry Biscoff Ice Cream

I have nothing against store bought ice cream.  During the summers of my childhood spent partially at my grandparents lake cabin in Minnesota, I have many fond memories of my grandparents asking "Who wants to go to the store & get some ice cream?" 

We would travel on Highway 113 to the little, little store & see what kind of ice cream they still had.  The store was a popular destination for gas & minor groceries for our lake & the surrounding area, and they often ran out of "important" things (like ice cream).  We would agree on one flavor and then race back home to devour the entire container.  See, at the time, our refrigerator did not have a freezer.  So, you either ate all the ice cream at one time? Or, you let it melt into soup & eventually threw it away.  We usually opted to eat the entire container :)

But recently, I did have an unfortunate experience with store-bought ice cream.  What I really wanted was ice cream sandwiches, but alas, the store was sold out.  So I was trying to find a suitable replacement while gazing through the enormous amount of flavors in the freezer case.  I debated between a couple of flavors, but in the end Banana Puddin' flavor won.

Bad, bad choice on my part.  The banana flavored ice cream tasted so artificial and reminiscent of banana runts candy (not something I like).  And the supposed vanilla cookie pieces tasted as though they were lacking in sugar & heavy handed in the salt.  Such a bummer!

I am remedying this unfortunate store-bought ice cream situation by making some of my own instead.  Since we're still in the midst of unpacking, not all of my kitchen tools and equipment have been sorted out or have a specific home yet. While browsing this month's Martha Stewart Living Magazine, I saw an advertisement for a cream cheese ice cream recipe that did not require an ice cream maker.  Yes, I usually like to make a custard-style (otherwise known as "French-style") ice cream, if I'm going to be making ice cream at all, but this recipe for American-style ice cream piqued my interest. Especially since it didn't require an ice cream machine!

The original ice cream called for strawberries & graham crackers, but I decided to try cherries & biscoff cookies, two of my husband's favorite things, instead.

This ice cream recipe does require a bit of forethought...  Some ingredients are combined, then frozen for 4 hours, then the rest of the ingredients are added & the mixture freezes again.  But I can assure you that this ice cream is worth the wait!  We were even sneaking tastes before it froze completely!

Cherry Biscoff Ice Cream
adapted from Philadelphia

8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened (1 package)
14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 can)
1/3 cup Whipping Cream
1 tsp Almond Extract
1 1/2 cups Cherries, pitted & halved
12 Biscoff cookies, coarsely chopped

1.  Blend the cream cheese, milk, cream & almond extract together until well combined.  Freeze for 4 hours or until almost solid.

2.  Beat the cream cheese mixture until creamy.

3.  Blend the cherries in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Add the cherry mixture to the cheese mixture and mix well.  Fold in the chopped Biscoff cookies.  Freeze 8 hours or until firm.

4.  15 minutes prior to service, remove the ice cream & let stand at room temp.  Scoop and serve.