I am a huge coffee lover – in fact, my hobby is trying out all the best coffee shops in a new city. I’m also a Ninja Creami nerd, which is why I had to develop this new Ninja Swirl coffee ice cream or soft serve.
The recipe uses milk and full fat thickened cream (heavy or whipping cream) as the dairy base. Of course, it wouldn’t be coffee ice cream without some fresh espresso for the coffee flavour. Caster sugar and glucose syrup or corn syrup (not the high fructose kind) create a perfectly sweet ice cream that has the most beautiful chewy texture. Finally, a pinch of salt and some vanilla bean paste or extract add nuance and depth of flavour.
Xanthan gum is an optional ingredient that I have found adds a beautiful pipe-able texture for Ninja Swirl soft serve recipes. It is absolutely optional though – we will get into that below.
Ingredient notes
As discussed briefly, this recipe uses full fat thickened cream. In Australia, full fat thickened cream contains 30-35% fat. The equivalent abroad is generally heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or whipping cream. Try to choose one with 30-36% fat for best results. Too much fat can cause a Ninja Creami recipe to split which creates an unpleasant texture.
My new favourite way to develop a Ninja recipe is to use two sugars – caster and glucose syrup or corn syrup (which is different from high fructose corn syrup). Caster sugars adds a lovely clean sweetness but does nothing to improve the texture of an ice cream. Glucose syrup or corn syrup adds a bit of sweetness but works wonders on the texture and body of the ice cream.
Glucose syrup is the most commonly available option in Australia, where I am based. You can generally find it in the baking aisle of the supermarket.
Corn syrup is the more common option in the USA. I recommend Karo brand light corn syrup – it is neutral in colour and flavour and doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup.
I haven’t tested a substitute in this recipe. With that said, I had great success using sweetened condensed milk in the Ninja Swirl vanilla soft serve recipe. There, I omitted both sugars (caster and syrup) and used 125g sweetened condensed milk. My Ninja Creami raspberry sorbet uses light agave syrup, so you might also be able to use light agave syrup in place of the glucose or corn syrups. I haven’t tested this though!
One last thing: I highly recommend fresh espresso here. I know it’s annoying if you don’t have a machine but the flavour will shine through so nicely if you use fresh.
Do I have to use xanthan gum?
No, the xanthan gum is optional in this recipe. I will note that thickened cream in Australia generally contains gums of some sort, but the added xanthan gum can easily be omitted. It is added to create extra body and texture and to make the ice cream pipe beautifully into soft serve. If you omit it, you might find that it pipes less smoothly (but it will still be delicious).
Can I use this recipe to make ice cream?
Yes! This recipe makes a lovely scoopable coffee ice cream with no ajdustments needed. Simply process using ‘scoop’ and ‘ice cream’ as per the recipe card.
You can omit the xanthan gum as you won’t be piping it, or leave it in for a lovely chewy textured ice cream. The choice is yours!
More Ninja Swirl recipes
- Ninja Swirl chocolate ice cream or soft serve
- Ninja Swirl strawberry ice cream or soft serve
- Ninja Swirl vanilla ice cream or soft serve
- Ninja Swirl frozen yogurt
- Ninja Swirl Dole Whip
Ninja Swirl chocolate ice cream or soft serve
Equipment
- Ninja Swirl machine with 470ml tubs
Ingredients
- 60 – 80g caster sugar (see notes)
- 1-2 g xanthan gum (optional, see notes)
- 125 g full fat thickened cream (might be called heavy cream or whipping cream where you live – 30-36% fat content, see notes)
- 200-225 g full fat milk (I used full fat lactose free milk)
- 50 g fresh espresso
- 50 g glucose syrup or light corn syrup (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract (optional but delicious)
- Pinch fine salt
Instructions
- If you are using the xanthan gum, mix the sugar and xanthan gum together in a medium pot. This helps disperse it and minimises the risk of it clumping when you add the liquid.
- Have a silicone spatula ready as you pour the milk and cream into the pot. Stir vigorously and make sure to scoop around the edges of the pot to dislodge any sugar and xanthan gum that might be hiding there.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Place on a medium heat and cook for 1-3 minutes or just until the sugars have completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
- Pour the mixture into the 470ml Ninja Swirl tub (make sure the bottom mechanism is closed first). Place in the freezer with the lid off for 24 hours. Leaving the lid off minimises the risk of the mixture developing a hump which can damage your machine.
- When ready to eat, process the mixture using the SCOOP and ICE CREAM functions. Using the SOFT SERVE function with a cream based ice cream splits the cream and results in an unpleasant mouthfeel.
- You can eat the ice cream as a scoop or turn it into soft serve. To make soft serve, swap the lid and add the piping nozzle. Pipe the soft serve using the lever. There will be some ice cream left in the bottom of the container that is a bit icy. The machine seems unable to process this last bit.
Notes
- Use 60g sugar if you have less of a sweet tooth and 80g if you have a sweet tooth. Keep in mind that the 80g version will be softer as sugar lowers the freezing point of a mixture (the more sugar you add, the less it is able to freeze solid).
- The xanthan gum is optional but does create a mixture that pipes beautifully. You can absolutely omit it if you prefer.
- It is important to choose cream with 30-36% fat or as close to as possible. High fat creams (like dollop) are too high in fat and create a risk of the mixture splitting. It will taste grainy and fatty and leave an unpleasant film in your mouth.
- Glucose syrup and light corn syrup are magical ingredients in Creami making. Glucose syrup is available in Australian supermarkets. Light corn syrup is more common in USA. Choose a high fructose free corn syrup that is light (which refers to the flavour and colour, not the calories). I have tested Karo brand light corn syrup. You may be able to substitute light agave syrup but I haven’t tested it here.
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