These are all my favorite additions and toppings for ice cream, but most can also be used to top cakes or pastries. They range from chocolate butterscotch toffee add-ins to fruit toppings, hot fudge, and citrus stardust. Mix and match to your heart’s content.
My preference is to use ¾ to 1 cup of add-ins per quart/liter of ice cream. And when adding fluid ingredients such as dulce de leche, pomegranate syrup, or melted jelly or jam, the ice cream needs to be churned fully but soft enough to spread. I like to add zigzag lines of a fluid add-in (see Adding Swirls) rather than swirling it into the ice cream so that it doesn’t mix into the ice cream base. Then, when scooping it into serving bowls, the swirls are more distinct. When adding jelly or jam, such as in the Pure Peanut Butter Ice Cream, different brands will vary in consistency, so if it seems a bit thin, it may work best to boil it for a few minutes before straining it. Any leftover add-ins can be passed in a pitcher or small bowl to use as a topping.
The technique of integrating add-ins varies according to the consistency and type. Some fluid add-ins are piped and others are spread. Delicate fruits such as brandied cherries are folded in, while nuts can be stirred into a fully churned base. The consistency of the churned base will sometimes be specified as soft serve, and other times as slightly firmer and beginning to ball up around the dasher. Other ice creams are described just as “churned,” which means to a hard consistency.
Please Note: Since so many of these recipes are sauces, whipped cream, or chips, for the yield, I have listed the volume before the weight because it’s easier to determine how many spoonfuls you might want to make.
adding swirls
To add distinct swirls of fluid ingredients, use a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, preferably Pyrex, to store the ice cream. (Set it in the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes before adding the ice cream.) Put the swirl in a disposable piping bag or quart-size reclosable freezer bag. Cut off a semicircle from the point of the bag and close it with a binder clamp until ready to pipe. (Alternatively, you can use a spoon, but it’s easier and faster with a piping bag.)
Pipe about one-third of the swirl in zigzags onto the bottom of the pan. Spread about one-third of the ice cream on top. Quickly pipe more zigzags on top, using about half of the remaining swirl. Repeat with another one-third of the ice cream and then the remaining swirl. Top with the remaining ice cream.
Soft Candied Grapefruit Peel Chanterelle
Hot Fudge Topping and Dipping Sauce
Cranberry Topping for Lemon, Orange, and Raspberry Ice Creams