Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream is a delicious copycat twist of the popular Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor that brings together the duo of chocolate and cherries.
This fan-suggested Ben & Jerry’s flavor is a long-time favorite, that the Vermont ice cream maker calls, “an edible tribute to guitarist Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead fans everywhere.”
I’ve certainly done my part to elevate Cherry Garcia to pop-culture fandom. It comes in pints and mini cups, and I’ve got to say, I prefer the smaller size pieces of cherries in the minis. So I set out to copy that.
If you love the combo of chocolate and cherries, this homemade ice cream recipe is a fantastic way to bring them together.
To keep things super easy, I make it with cherry pie filling and chocolate chips. But if you’ve got a bumper crop of summer cherries, you can use them instead.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
Chocolate and cherries. Need I say more? There’s a reason Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia always makes their annual list of Top 10 flavors.
If you love chocolate-covered cherries or strawberries, or are craving a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, give this copycat recipe a try. It’s super simple to make with an automatic ice cream maker, some cherries, chocolate, cream and sugar.
An easy way to use extra cherry pie filling. I recently made these cherry hand pies and didn’t use the entire can of pie filling. What to do? This ice cream recipe only uses about a half-cup of cherries, so it was the perfect solution.
Easy recipe for all seasons! Whether you need a dessert for Valentine’s Day (this Valentine saltine toffee is amazing too), have a bumper crop of summer cherries, or some leftover cherry pie filling from the holidays, Cherry Garcia ice cream is always in-season!
Making homemade ice cream is fun! Why is it we don’t make homemade ice cream more? It’s so dang easy to do, and fun. It almost seems magical watching cream, thicken into this velvety ice cream. Cherry Garcia is amazingly delicious, but the flavors you can make are limitless.
Ingredients Needed
- cherry pie filling or fresh cherries (stemmed, pitted and chopped)
- heavy cream
- whole milk
- sugar
- salt
- vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Can I make homemade Cherry Garcia ice cream with fresh cherries?
This recipes calls for using a small amount of canned cherry pie filling, both the cherries and some of the sweet gooey filling.
However, you absolutely can use fresh cherries instead. Here’s what you need to do.
- First, remove the stems and wash the cherries.
- Then, pit the cherries and cut into small pieces (at least fourths).
- Now go ahead and give the cherries a taste test. If they’re sour or not quite sweet enough, you might want to macerate them. I like to macerate them regardless, to soften them. Coursely chop the cherries (you need 1/2 cup), then place in a bowl, and stir in 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover and let sit for at least 30 minutes, then strain the syrup and reserve for other uses if desired..
- Keep your prepared cherries in the refrigerator until ready to mix into the ice cream.
Steps to Make Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Before beginning, make sure everything is cold–ingredients, utensils and bowls! My ice cream maker’s freezer bowl has to be frozen rock solid to work properly, which takes 16-24 hours.
When the ice cream is finished, you’ll need to place it in a container. Go ahead and put that empty container in the freezer while the ice cream is churning (or before) so it’s super cold.
Detailed recipe and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.
- Place ice cream machine’s freezer bowl in freezer for 16-24 hours, or according to your machine’s instructions.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine whole milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. (You can also use a hand mixer on low speed.) Then, stir in heavy cream by hand. Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 1-2 hours. Overnight is preferable.
- When you’re ready to make the ice cream, coursely chop the cherries, and finely chop the chocolate. Place in the refrigerator until ready to mix into the ice cream.
- Place the mixing paddle to your ice cream maker inside the frozen freezer bowl and place the lid on. Turn your ice cream maker on and slowly pour in the mixture and mix for about 15-20 minutes until thickened. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add in the cherries and chocolate chips.
- The ice cream will have a soft consistency. For a firmer consistency, transfer it to an airtight container for 1-2 hours.
Need a container for your homemade ice cream? I love, love, love this set of 3 reusable quart ice cream containers! They’re BPA-free, come with stickers for labeling and are super cute.
Prepping the Ice Cream Ingredients
Give the cherries a rough chop and cut the chocolate chips or your preferred chocolate bar into small pieces.
If using a hand mixer to help dissolve the sugar, only mix it with the milk. The heavy cream should be stirred in by hand (so you don’t risk whipping it).
Churning the Ice Cream
Keep an eye on your ice cream while it churns. It only takes 15-20 minutes to thicken up and you need to add in the cherries and chocolate about 5 minutes before it’s done mixing.
Freezing the Ice Cream
Homemade ice cream is always soft, but you can firm it up in the freezer. Just keep in mind, it melts faster than store-bought ice creams which contain gums and emulsifiers.
Recipe Tips
For extra fruit flavor, toss in some fresh cherries or berries. While this recipe is for homemade Cherry Garcia ice cream, nothing says you can’t add in some other fruits.
I’ve added a few chopped up super-ripe strawberries to this ice cream mix, and somehow it made the cherry taste even more like cherries. (Crazy how that happens.)
If using a hand mixer to dissolve sugar, use a bowl with tall sides. This helps keep any splattering milk in the bowl. (Even on low speed, the milk may splatter.)
Do not overfill the freezer bowl. The directions for my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, say to not go higher than 1/4″ from the top of the bowl since ice cream increases in volume during the freezing process. (Check the instructions for you specific ice cream maker.)
For firmer ice cream, place it in the freezer for two hours before serving. Homemade ice cream does not have the same consistency as store-bought, since it does not have gums or preservatives in it. When it’s done churning, put the soft-serve in the freezer to firm up.
Freeze your airtight container while the ice cream is churning. You certainly don’t want to put cold ice cream in a warm container! When the container is cold, your ice cream will firm up faster.
Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Easy homemade cherry ice cream recipe that's filled with flecks of chocolate and bits of cherries just like the famous Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. This quick and easy ice cream recipe is made with cherry pie filling or fresh cherries.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup chopped cherry pie filling, mostly cherries with filling on them
- 1/2 cup chopped chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place ice cream machine freezer bowl in freezer for 16-24 hours.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine whole milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. (You can also use a hand mixer on low speed.) Then, stir in heavy cream by hand. Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 1-2 hours. Overnight is preferable.
- When you're ready to make the ice cream, coursely chop the cherries from the canned pie filling, and finely chop the chocolate. (See notes below if using fresh cherries.) Place chopped cherries and chocolate in the refrigerator until ready to mix into the ice cream.
- Place the mixing paddle to your ice cream maker inside the frozen freezer bowl and place the lid on. Turn your ice cream maker on and slowly pour in the mixture and mix for about 15-20 minutes until thickened. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add in the cherries and chocolate chips.
- The ice cream will have a soft consistency. For a firmer consistency, transfer it to an airtight container for 1-2 hours.
Notes
- You may use 1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries plus 2 tablespoons instead of cherry pie filling. Wash, stem, pit and chop cherries, then stir in 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover and let sit 30 minutes. Strain out the juice and place the cherries in the refrigerator until ready to add them into ice cream maker.
- Use your favorite chocolate. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips if I have them on-hand, but dark chocolate bar chopped up is really good, too.
- Freeze your ice cream freezer bowl overnight. My Cuisinart freezer bowl takes 16-24 hours to be cold enough.
- After chopping cherries and chocolate put them in the refrigerator to chill. That way you're not adding warm ingredients into the cold ice cream as it mixes.
- When the ice cream is finished, you'll need to place it in a container. Go ahead and put that empty container in the freezer while the ice cream is churning (or before) so it's super cold.
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