How To Make Rolled Ice Cream at Home (No Fancy Equipment Required)

published Dec 17, 2020
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This two-ingredient ice cream can be topped with your favorites and made without any fancy ingredients

Serves4

Prep10 minutes

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Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell

Whether you know this frozen dessert as Thai rolled ice cream, stir-fried ice cream, or even marble-top ice cream, its signature look and flavor are the same: Rolled tubes of sweet, milky, almost-chewy ice cream presented in a small cup with plenty of whipped cream and garnishes.

Places that sell rolled ice cream make it on super-chilled flat tops or marble slabs specifically designed for rapidly chilling an ice cream base. The person making the ice cream will roll and chop the liquid base on the chilled slab until it forms a cream. Then, they’ll flatten it, add flavorings, and roll up each serving to order.

While it sounds complex, it’s actually really easy to make rolled ice cream at home — and incredibly fun, too. Here’s how to make any flavor of rolled ice cream you like — no fancy marble slabs or special equipment required.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell

2-Ingredient Rolled Ice Cream at Home

Most rolled ice cream vendors — whether they’re street carts or fancy storefronts — are pretty tight-lipped about their ice cream base. Luckily, rolled ice cream’s texture gives a lot away about its contents.

The key to successful rolled ice cream is making a frozen base that is freezable but still pliable enough to roll up when cold (and that tastes delicious, of course). There are two ingredients that can guarantee just that: sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream. Sweetened condensed milk is a brilliant shortcut ingredient because it’s already sweetened, so you don’t have to bother dissolving sugar in warm milk. Adding cream ensures that the rolled ice cream won’t crack when you roll it (whole milk doesn’t have enough milk fat), plus it makes the finished frozen dessert extra rich and delicious.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell

3 Tips for the Best Rolled Ice Cream

1. Make sure you’ve got space in the freezer. The trickiest part of making rolled ice cream is finding space in the freezer for a rimmed baking sheet (or a few 9×13-inch pans) to sit flat. Be sure to make this space before you carry a pan filled with liquid ice cream base around the kitchen, or you’ll risk almost certain spillage.

2. Keep the ice cream base thin — but not too thin. Depending on your freezer and your equipment — or your flavors — you may choose to divide the ice cream base into different pans. A rimmed sheet pan works, as do two quarter sheet pans, or two (9×13-inch) pans. Just make sure your base is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Too thin and it won’t curl; too thick and it will collapse on itself as it rolls.

3. Use a sharp, thin spatula for rolling. I keep a cheap putty knife from the hardware store saved specifically for this task. But really, any tool or spatula — like this OXO Lasagna Turner — will work as long as it’s sharp enough to cut sections in the ice cream and thin enough to slide under the sheets of ice cream to get them rolling.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell

Rolled Ice Cream Flavor Ideas

The best thing about homemade ice cream is that you can make any flavor you want. But with rolled ice cream it’s easier — and you can even create multiple flavors within one batch, if you want. Add-ins and flavorings can be whisked into the base directly in the pan, and toppings can be sprinkled on top just before freezing. Below are some basic ratios for a fruity version, a version with small add-ins like sprinkles and nuts, and one with bulky add-ins like candy bars and crushed cookies.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell

Serving Rolled Ice Cream

Once in the freezer, the ice cream base needs about two hours to freeze. Once it’s cold enough, put one pan on the counter at a time and, working quickly, roll the ice cream by cutting it into sections and then rolling the sections into tight tubes.

Tongs work really well for transferring the finished rolls to small bowls or ramekins. Most rolled ice cream shops serve their rolled ice cream with whipped cream and extra add-ins on top— after all, half the fun of rolled ice cream is the presentation.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Cyd McDowell
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This two-ingredient ice cream can be topped with your favorites and made without any fancy ingredients

Rolled Ice Cream

This two-ingredient ice cream can be topped with your favorites and made without any fancy ingredients

Prep time 10 minutes

Serves 4

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

For the ice cream base:

  • 2 cups

    cold heavy cream

  • 1 (14-ounce) can

    sweetened condensed milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    kosher salt

For strawberry:

  • 1 teaspoon

    vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup

    strawberry preserves, plus sliced fresh strawberries for garnish

For cookies and cream:

  • 1 teaspoon

    cocoa powder

  • 8

    Oreo cookies, crushed, plus more for garnish

For funfetti:

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    vanilla extract

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    almond extract

  • 1/4 cup

    rainbow sprinkles

Equipment

  • Measuring cups and spoons

  • Medium bowl

  • Whisk

  • Flat metal spatula

  • 2 rimmed baking sheets, or 2 (9x13-inch) metal baking pans

Instructions

  1. Prep the freezer. Before you begin, make sure that you have flat surfaces in your freezer for 2 rimmed baking sheets or 2 (9x13-inch) metal baking pans. You want to use metal, not glass or ceramic, or the ice cream won’t freeze quickly.

  2. Make the ice cream base. Whisk the cream, sweetened condensed milk, and salt together in a medium bowl.

  3. Pour the ice cream base into the baking sheets or pans. Divide the ice cream base between the baking sheets or pans.

  4. Add the flavors or customize the base. Divide the extracts, jam, or cocoa between the pans and whisk or stir gently to combine. Cookies or sprinkles can be sprinkled onto the base.

  5. Freeze the ice cream base for 2 hours. Freeze until completely frozen, about 2 hours.

  6. Roll the ice cream. Roll 1 pan of ice cream at a time (keep the other one in the freezer). Position the pan with a long side closer to you. Working quickly from top to bottom, use a flat, sharp edged spatula to cut the ice cream into 3-inch wide strips. Starting at the bottom, use the spatula to scrape up and roll the ice cream strips into rolls. Using tongs, gently pick up the rolled ice cream and stand them up in a cup or small ramekin.

  7. Garnish and serve. Top the rolled ice cream with whipped cream, sprinkles, crushed cookies, or sliced berries, as desired.

Recipe Notes

The nutritional data for this recipe is calculated with the strawberry flavoring.

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