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A side on image of a silver dessert coupe on a white marble table. The dessert coupe is filled with Ninja Swirl vanilla soft serve and topped with hot fudge sauce and rainbow sprinkles

Ninja Swirl vanilla soft serve

Gluten free, lactose free option
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Freezing time 1 day
Course Dessert, Ice Cream, Sweet
Cuisine Ninja Creami recipes, Ninja Swirl recipes
Servings 1 X 470ml tub

Equipment

  • 1 X Ninja Swirl machine with 470ml tubs

Ingredients
  

  • 50-60 g caster sugar (see notes)
  • 1-2 g xanthan gum (see notes)
  • 275 g full fat milk
  • 125 g full fat thickened cream (see notes)
  • 60 g glucose syrup or light corn syrup (see notes)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean extract or paste
  • Pinch fine salt

Instructions
 

  • Whisk the caster sugar and xanthan gum together in a medium pot. Combining them helps disperse the xanthan gum which means less clumps in your ice cream.
  • Have a silicone spatula in hand as you weigh in the milk. Quickly stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the pot to ensure no sugary xanthan mixture lurks in the corners.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Transfer to the stove for cook for 1-3 minutes or until the liquid sugar has totally dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
  • Allow to come to a hand comfortable temperature before pouring into the 470ml Ninja Swirl tub. Make sure the bottom swirl mechanism is closed before you add mixture.
  • Freeze for 24 hours with the lid off. Leaving the lid off can help prevent the mixture forming a hump which can damage your machine.
  • When ready to eat, process your ice cream using the scoop and ice cream function. Scoop function doesn't over-process high fat mixtures and split them like the soft serve function does.
  • If the mixture appears soft, place it in the freezer for 10-30 minutes. The higher the sugar content, the softer the mixture will be.
  • Swap lids and put the piping nozzle onto the machine. Open the bottom mechanism and process the mixture using the soft serve lever. If you get an error message, allow the mixture to soften for 5-10 minutes before continuing.
  • There will be some mixture leftover in the machine that is a bit icy. You can eat it as is or try re-spinning it for a scoop. This is the same for every Swirl - there is a bit left in the bottom that the machine doesn't seem to process.

Notes

  • Use 50g caster sugar for a slightly less sweet mixture.
  • You can omit the xanthan gum if you like but your mixture will not pipe out in lovely smooth swirls. 1g gives a modest aesthetic boost whereas 2g pipes lovely thick ribbons that hold their shape for longer. See what works best for you.
  • The 'swirl' setting combined with ice cream processes a mixture for 5 minutes, whereas the 'scoop' setting combined with ice cream processes it for 2 minutes. High cream mixtures cannot be processed excessively or the cream starts to split into butter. Do not process this mixture on 'swirl' - your ice cream will split and it will coat the roof of your mouth unpleasantly and immediately.
  • Full fat thickened cream contains 30-35% milkfat. In other places, it might be called heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or whipping cream. In Australia, thickened cream contains gums whereas it doesn't seem to anywhere else. The most important thing is the fat content - try to choose a variety that contains 30-36% fat. Too high of a fat content (double cream, for example) will result in an overly fatty ice cream that will split.
  • You can use lactose free dairy in this recipe. Use full fat lactose free milk and full fat lactose free thickened cream. Because lactose free dairy tastes sweeter than regular dairy, I would recommend using 50g caster sugar and maybe 50g glucose syrup or corn syrup. 
  • Glucose syrup is commonly available in Australian supermarkets. It is thick and annoying to work with, but if you submerge the container in warm/hot water it is easier to wrangle. It is such a great ingredient for achieving a lovely textured soft serve. 
  • Corn syrup is different to high fructose corn syrup, although some corn syrup does contain HFCS. I have tested Karo brand light corn syrup here. Light refers to the colour and flavour rather than the calories. Choose a light variety only for neutral colour and flavour. I am working on a condensed milk option for those who don't want to use glucose syrup or corn syrup. 
  • Glucose syrup and light corn syrup are interchangeable in this recipe. 
  • You can use 125g sweetened condensed milk in place of both the sugar and syrup if you wish. I don't recommend using all caster sugar as liquid sugar improves the body and texture of ice cream. I recommend sprinkling the xanthan gum over the sweetened condensed milk and whisking it in to help disperse it evenly. After this, proceed with the recipe as written. 
Keyword Ninja Swirl recipes, Ninja Swirl vanilla ice cream
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