Replicating Favorites: Red Velvet Ice Cream

Red velvet cake is one of my favorites, especially paired with cream cheese frosting (surprisingly difficult to find in a world of butter cream enthusiasts).  When I found out that Sundays in May at Shake Shack featured a red velvet custard with a tangy cream cheese base, I was in line every Sunday for a cup, digging hard for those bites of chunky cake.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and it did indeed when the carton of red velvet (snagged before June rolled around) hit the bottom of the trash can.  However, instead of sitting and mourning the loss, I decided to give my ice cream machine a go and try to replicate the ice cream that had me braving the lines at Shake Shack.

The recipe is simple enough: eggs, cream, milk, sugar and cream cheese and white chocolate.  But to be honest, I have not made ice cream that many times since receiving the machine a year ago for my birthday (sorry old roomies!).  That might explain why my first batch of ice cream base curdled, leaving me frustrated at my stove whose flame is basically an on and an off – nothing in the middle.  I got up early in the morning to replenish ingredients and re-separate another dozen eggs.  I also pulled out my ceramic pot to buffer the cream against the heat.

Here’s a little bit of the process in pictures:

As usual, I wanted more cream cheese!  Another half pound later, I finally managed to find that tangy flavor that I wanted.  After the ice cream base whirled inside the machine for 25 minutes, I folded in crumbled red velvet chunks and ta da!

My Red Velvet Ice Cream

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Ice Cream Modified Recipe (Original courtesy of Food and Wine)

• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1.5 pounds cream cheese, cut into cubes, at room temperature
• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 12 large egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 12 mini store bought red velvet cake or 3 or 4 regular sized cupcakes