Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

Light, smooth, and creamy, this Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream is packed with juicy strawberries and buttery pound cake. Best of all, you don’t need any special equipment to make this delicious and easy homemade ice cream.

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🍓 No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

This no-churn strawberry shortcake ice cream is just as good as any you’ll find in a grocery store, and is so easy to make. It starts with a rich and creamy no-churn ice cream base, then you stir in lots and lots of fresh strawberries and cubes of pound cake. (I use store-bought to make this extra simple!) The combination of sweet-tart berries and chunks of vanilla-scented cake is delightful, and makes this the perfect dessert for summer–or anytime!

The beauty of no-churn ice cream is that you don’t need to cook the ice cream base, and you don’t need a special ice cream maker to churn it. All you need are four simple ingredients, a few common kitchen tools, and (of course) your freezer. The resulting ice cream is fruity, refreshing, nostalgic, and a total crowd-pleaser!

🧾What You’ll Need

Ingredients

Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind as you gather ingredients. Check the recipe card for full ingredient amounts. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Pound cake: Since you don’t need a ton of pound cake, I recommend using store-bought cake, but of course homemade pound cake also works well. Alternately, you can use cubes of regular yellow cake or cupcakes, scones, bundt cake, or even baked and crumbled pie crust!
• Diced strawberries: Fresh strawberries work best, but frozen strawberries can also be used in a pinch.
• Heavy whipping cream: I recommend using heavy cream or manufacturing cream over whipping cream, when possible. Heavy cream and manufacturing cream have the most fat, which produces a better flavor and texture. For best results, make sure the cream is very cold before whipping it.
• Sweetened condensed milk: This thick and rich sweetener will ensure that your ice cream doesn’t freeze too hard and is a perfect scoopable consistency. Make sure you use sweetened condensed milk, NOT evaporated milk. The cans look similar and they’re usually in the same section at the grocery store, but they are not the same thing. 

Equipment

You don’t need any special equipment to make this ice cream — just a mixing bowl, an electric mixer, a spatula, and a loaf pan or other container. But if you want to make your life a little easier, I own and recommend these ice cream tools: (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Ice cream scoop: A high-quality ice cream scoop makes it so easy to portion the ice cream out in perfect rounded scoops.
• Ice cream storage container: An ice cream storage container keeps the ice cream fresh in the freezer. I have this set, and can personally vouch that the containers are amazing. They keep the ice cream soft and fresh, while keeping out odors and ice crystals.

📸Photo Tutorial: How to Make Easy Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

This ice cream is a breeze to throw together. Here’s a quick photo tutorial, and you can find printable instructions in the recipe card above.

Make the ice cream base

1. Prep berries and cake: Begin by dicing both your strawberries and pound cake into 1” cubes. Set aside.
2. Whip cream: In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
3. Fold in milk: Use a rubber spatula to then gently fold in your sweetened condensed milk. Be careful not to beat too much air out of your whipped cream in the process.
4. Fold in berries and cake: Add your chopped pound cake and strawberries to your ice cream base and carefully mix until evenly distributed.

Chill well

5. Freeze: Transfer the mixture to an ice cream storage container or 9×5 inch loaf pan. Cover tightly, then place in the freezer for 4-6 hours.
6. Enjoy! Scoop, serve, and dig in!

💭Variations

Make this ice cream your own by getting creative with your toppings and variations! Try serving it with some of these toppers, or stir them into the ice cream before chilling it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Swap the cake: Chocolate pound cake or brownie cubes
• Add some crunch: Chopped Oreo cookies, shortbread cookies, waffle cone pieces, chopped walnuts or other nuts
• Fun toppings: Homemade whipped cream, strawberry sauce or syrup, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, or strawberry popping boba
• Fruit: Fresh berries or thinly sliced bananas

💡Tips and FAQs for Success

• Check the milk. It’s far too easy to grab evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk is key to getting creamy, scoopable ice cream!
• Chill the bowl and whisk. The colder equipment creates a lighter whipped cream which creates a lighter ice cream. 15 minutes of chill time should be plenty.
• Whip to firm peaks: When making whipped cream, it goes through a few general stages of development. As it begins to incorporate air and thicken, you want to get it to a stage called firm peaks. You can identify this stage by how the cream reacts when you lift the whisk out of the mixing bowl. If you pull the whisk out and the cream flops over and does not hold a pointy shape, it’s at the soft peak stage and needs to be whipped longer. Mix a little longer and test the cream again by pulling up the whisk. You’ll know it’s at the firm peak stage when the cream points upward with hardly any flopping and retains its shape well.
• Don’t over mix. When you’re mixing the ice cream ingredients, gently fold only until just combined. Over-mixing deflates the cream and ruins the texture of the ice cream.
• Store in the back of the freezer. The further back the ice cream, the better the temperature is regulated. If the ice cream temperature fluctuates too much, ice crystals can form.
• For smooth swirls: Not a fan of whole fruit in your ice cream? Try using a strawberry sauce or jam instead of strawberry chunks.
• For big chunks: If you like bigger swirls of fruit and cake throughout your ice cream, be sure to leave your berries and shortcake in bigger chunks before mixing into your ice cream base.