No Churn Ice Cream Curdling

Asked by Sockowl. Answered on 9th August 2016

Full question

I'm having a problem with the No-Churn Salted Caramel Bourbon ice cream curdling, giving a cottage cheese like consistency. Given that I'm following the instructions, can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong please, or if there's any way of recovering it once this happens please?

Our answer

For Nigella's No-Churn Salted Caramel Bourbon Ice Cream the ingredients are whisked together to introduce some air and then the mixture is simply frozen. From the description we suspect that the mixture is being beaten too much, causing it to split and look curdled. When you whisk cream too much the fat molecules start to cling together, giving the lumpy appearance.

As the cream is mixed with dulche de leche/Carnation caramel it will not whisk fully to soft peaks. You need to whisk just until the mixture looks thickened and a little arier. The mixture will fall off the whisk in a thick ribbon, leaving a trail for a few seconds on the surface of the contents of the bowl. It is better to slightly under-whisk if you are not sure and stop immediately if you start to see any signs of the mixture turning grainy. You may also be able to recover the split mixture by adding 3-4 tablespoons of unwhipped cream and very gently whisking this in by hand.