First, I’ll start with all of your questions.
Q: Do the conversation hearts get soggy in the ice cream?
A: No, they do not.
Q: Are you for real with this?
A: Yes yes, very much so.
Valentine’s Day is the best time of year for candy! I never really get into Christmas candy much, because it’s usually very chocolate-centric. I’m a fruity candy person, all the way. And while conversation hearts are probably as far away from real fruit as you can get, I still love the orange and lime ones best.
So, as soon as I see Conversation Hearts, I grab ’em. I also grab: sour cherry balls, cinnamon hearts, and festive Valentine’s M&Ms for making cookies and brownies.
You only need 3 ingredients to make this ice cream. Well, 4 because I forgot to photograph the vanilla extract.
Yes, yes–hell has frozen over. I finally succumbed to the no-churn ice cream method using sweetened condensed milk. I avoided it for a long time because sweetened condensed milk has such a strong flavor, but I finally found a brand that I like. It’s Trader Joe’s (of course).
So, good people: this is a 7 ounce bag of tiny conversation hearts. Chop all of it up except for a few handfuls. Put the extras in the pocket of your favorite jacket. So, like 5 ounces or so? You can estimate. Just don’t add the entire bag, ok?
Then, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. I used a hand mixer because 2 cups is a lot of cream to mix by hand.
Stir the hearts into the condensed milk, along with a fat tablespoon of vanilla extract. Sorry I didn’t snap a photo of that. Then, gently fold in the cream.
Some of the smaller pieces of hearts will dissolve and color the ice cream base a lovely shade of peach.
Gently fold in the whipped cream using the proper folding technique: through the middle with the skinny part of the spatula, and then sweep the outside edges of the bowl. It takes a long time to fold properly, but if you stir it all together like a mad woman, it won’t be as fluffy. Trust.
Scrape it into a bread loaf pan (this recipe makes just 1 pint of ice cream), press wax paper directly on the surface (a little tip I picked up from The Kitchn), and freeze for at least 8 hours.
Serve it with more conversation hearts because enough is never enough!
Conversation Heart Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 5 ounces tiny conversation hearts, chopped
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Stir the chopped candy into the sweetened condensed milk in a small bowl. Add the vanilla.
- Next, beat the cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the milk and candy mixture gently into the whipped cream.
- Scrape the mixture into a loaf pan, cover with wax paper, and freeze for at least 8 hours.
