Winter White Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream (Baskin-Robbins Copycat)

Name: Winter White Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 5 ounces white chocolate (chopped); 1 cup whole milk; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup sugar; 5 egg yolks; 2 cups heavy cream or half and half; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 12-18 chocolate covered cherries (chopped into fourths)

Laura Lynch

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If you’ve ever had Baskin Robbins Winter White Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream you’re in for a treat because this recipe shows you how to make this elusive holiday treat at home. It’s a deliciously creamy white chocolate cherry ice cream with chunks of chocolate covered cherries.

» Here are 22 of our favorite ice cream maker recipes. We think this chocolate chip ice cream is to die for!

We use our ice cream maker for this recipe, so be sure to put the barrel in the freezer a day ahead so it’s good and frozen by the time you want to use it.

I’ve always adored the Winter White Chocolate ice cream flavor at Baskin Robbins. It was introduced in the 90s and has come back a few times over the years, but it’s so hard to find that I pretty much gave up on it along the way. Until this year!

I was so keen to have this ice cream again that I made my own recipe for it, using my favorite custard ice cream base. If you look at our ice cream recipes on this site, you’ll notice that they all have one thing in common – this ice cream base. It’s the start of all great ice creams. Once you’ve got this recipe down, all you have to do is add whatever flavoring you like to change it up in 100s of different ways.

What is Winter White Chocolate Ice Cream?

According to the Baskin Robbins website:

“First introduced in 1985, Winter White Chocolate® has since become a go-to flavor for ice cream aficionados and seasonal flavor fans. A scoop of this delightful flavor features Wintery White Chocolate flavored Ice Cream with a flurry of Chocolate flavored Coated Cherry Pieces and Cherry Swirls.

Winter White Chocolate® brings the classic combination of chocolate and cherry flavors to life – celebrating the balance of rich chocolate and tart cherries that so many dessert lovers have come to crave. Winter White Chocolate® is an irresistible scoop that will paint a picture of a winter wonderland with every bite.”

Equipment Needed

Ice cream maker
Spatula
Sauce pan
Bowl
Freezer container
Ice cream scoop

Ingredients You Need

This ice cream uses a custard base, so it has egg yolks in it. If you don’t want to

Half and half or heavy cream – There is a debate out there about how much butterfat the best ice cream has. It can range anywhere from non-fat all the way up to 20%. Using half and half and whole milk results in the best texture and fat level for me. Use heavy whipping cream if you like your ice cream super creamy.
Whole milk – I always use whole milk – we’re not pretending this is a low-fat dessert
Egg yolks – Set the eggs and milk out about 15 minutes before you start to get them to room temp
Sugar – Granulated sugar is fine in this recipe. If you’re going to replace it with a sugar substitute, I recommend using only allulose, because it doesn’t harden like erythritol and the others do. This makes a big difference.
Vanilla – Use the highest-quality vanilla you can. The flavor of the vanilla is strong and can be a little off-putting if you use a low-quality vanilla. You can also add vanilla bean to this recipe.
Salt – A little bit of salt helps to balance the sweetness.
White Chocolate melting wafers – I’ve tried many brands and I firmly believe that Ghirardelli White vanilla flavored melting wafers are the best.
Chocolate covered cherries – I use the Queen Anne brand Milk Chocolate Cherry Cordials – they come in a box of 10 pieces.
Cherry jam – optional

How to Make White Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream

We use this same ice cream base for chocolate chocolate chip ice cream, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, and any other flavor of ice cream we make. It’s an easy base and it tastes great and very creamy.

The other great part about using this base for everything is that it starts to become second nature to make it. There are quite a few steps to making custard-style ice cream, but it’s not hard, and it’s very much worth the effort.

For this white chocolate ice cream, you want to start by pouring the white chocolate wafers into a heat-proof bowl that’s large enough to hold the custard mixture.

Step One: Heat the Milk Mixture

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, salt, and half the sugar. Stir the mixture constantly as you bring it just to a simmer. Remove from heat.

Step Two: Temper the Egg Mixture

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar just until combined.

You need to temper the eggs, so they don’t cook. Tempering is just bringing the egg mixture up to a higher heat in a slow way so the egg doesn’t cook from flash heat. It will be easier to temper the eggs if you have allowed the eggs to come to room temperature before you started.

Slowly stir 1/2 cup of the milk mixture in a drizzle into the egg mixture. If you do this slowly enough, the eggs won’t begin to resemble scrambled eggs.

Step Three: Combine and Thicken

Pour that egg mixture back into the saucepan with the milk mixture. Heat over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Do not boil the mixture. If the mixture gets too hot and boils you could end up with scrambled eggs.

Remove the pot from the heat.

Step Four: Pour Over White Chocolate Wafers

As soon as you remove the mixture from the heat, you’ll want to pour it into the bowl of white chocolate that you prepared at the start.

It will start to melt the chocolate right away, so stir it with a spatula until it’s all melted and combined.

Step Five: Chill the Mixture

Pour the mixture into a bowl or container. To avoid putting the hot mixture in the refrigerator, you can chill the mixture over another bowl filled with ice for 10-15 minutes to cool it down first. Just get a second bowl that’s similar size or larger than the one your mixture is in. Fill it with ice and set the bowl with the custard over it. When it’s cooled down a bit, refrigerate it for at least two hours, until it’s cold.

Step Five: Churn the Ice Cream

After the white chocolate ice cream mixture has completely cooled, stir in the half and half and vanilla. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and turn it on.

After 5 minutes, add in the chocolate covered cherries, one at a time, so they don’t clump together. Pour any remaining cherry filling into the ice cream maker.

Every ice cream maker is different, so churn the ice cream until it’s thick. For me, that looks like the image below. It’s fairly thick and has started to catch on the churning wand, so it’s ready to go.

At this point, you can add the cherry jam, if you wish to have swirls of cherry in the ice cream, like Baskin Robbins does. For me, this makes it a bit too sweet, so I chose to leave it out. You could also add a swirl of chocolate fudge, if you wanted to!

Pour the ice cream into a stainless steel bowl or loaf pan and put it in the freezer to chill. It will take at least a few hours to freeze up enough to be ready to scoop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this ice cream have to be made in an ice cream maker?

This ice cream recipe is made in the ice cream maker. It’s an easy way to churn the ice cream mixture to make it freeze faster and make it super creamy, so we prefer it.
However you can still make it without an ice cream maker. At the end, mix in only half of the heavy cream and reserve the rest. Pour the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. When ready to eat, add the ice cream cubes to the blender with the remaining heavy cream and blend until smooth.

Do I have to add eggs to the ice cream?

Eggs add flavor, prevent ice crystallization, and create a smooth and creamy texture, so they are an important ingredient for delicious ice cream. You can make ice cream without eggs. Here is a chocolate ice cream recipe that doesn’t include eggs.

Can I add flavoring to the ice cream?

You can use any flavoring or fruit you want in this ice cream. I love the aromatics and flavor of fresh ripe peaches, but you could also use strawberries, blueberry, or mango, plus any other flavoring you like, such as chocolate, peanut butter, Snickers, etc.

What Ice Cream Maker to Use?

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, 1.5 Quart Sorbet, Frozen Yogurt Maker, Double Insulated, White, ICE-21P1

CUISINART Ice Cream Maker, Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Machine, 2-Qt. Double-Insulated Freezer Bowl, Silver, ICE30BCP1

If you’re really wanting to make great ice cream at home, you have to invest in an ice cream maker. I’ve had the same one for many years and it’s never made a bad ice cream.

The one I recommend is the Cuisinart 1.5 quart ice cream maker. It comes in a few different colors and it looks neat and tidy. You just have to keep to recipes that are small enough to fit, which shouldn’t be a problem.

The Cuisinart ICE-70 Electronic Ice Cream Maker is a slightly more professional model that’s 2 quarts and has an LCD screen and 3 settings plus an improved paddle with faster processing time.

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