No-Churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
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If you love strong coffee and creamy desserts, this no-churn coffee ice cream from Andrea Nguyen is a dream come true.
Photography credit: Aubrie Pick © 2019
Vietnamese iced coffee is a traditional Vietnamese drink of brewed dark roast coffee poured over ice and sweetened condensed milk. In her much-acclaimed cookbook, Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors, Andrea Nguyen translates this classic drink into delicious ice cream. Happily, you don’t need an ice cream machine, just a handheld electric mixer. Simply whip the ingredients together, pop the mixture in the freezer, and a few hours later you’ll have an intensely coffee-flavored, ultra-creamy frozen treat.
Serve the ice cream on its own, or dress it up with a drizzle of hot fudge sauce for a coffeehouse-style hot fudge sundae. It’s great with biscotti or almond cookies on the side, or scooped into profiteroles for an easy, elegant dessert. You can even go affogato-style and pour a shot of hot espresso over top—it melts into a dreamy, bittersweet sauce.
“This is incredible. I made it for a Vietnam-themed dinner. Everyone raved and wanted the recipe. Now that everyone’s gone, I’m sitting here eating it, unable to stop!”
What You’ll Need To Make Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and rounds out the flavor of the ice cream.
- Instant Espresso Powder: Brings rich coffee flavor without the need to brew a pot. You’ll usually find it in the coffee aisle near the instant coffee.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Makes the ice cream extra creamy and rich.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Sweetens the base and keeps the texture smooth and scoopable. Be sure to use the full-fat kind—any leftovers are great stirred into coffee or tea.
- Molasses: Adds a touch of caramel-like depth that pairs nicely with the coffee flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the base. In a large bowl, combine the vanilla, espresso powder, and salt; stir until the espresso powder is mostly dissolved.
Mix in the cream, condensed milk, and molasses.
Step 2: Whip. Using an electric handheld mixer fitted with the beaters or whisk attachment, whip the mixture at high speed until just thickened to a fluffy whipped cream-like consistency.
Step 3: Freeze. Transfer the ice cream base to a storage container, cover tightly, and freeze until firm—it should take about 5 hours. The ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes to soften to a scoopable texture before serving. Enjoy!
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No-Churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
All the rich, sweet flavor of Vietnamese iced coffee, transformed into an ultra-creamy no-churn ice cream.
Ingredients
- 1½ to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Brimming 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
- Fine sea salt
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- Brimming ⅓ cup full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- Scant 1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine 1½ teaspoons of the vanilla, the espresso, a pinch of salt and stir to mix well; it will seem slightly sludgy. Add the cream, condensed milk, and molasses. Taste and, if you want to boost the flavor a touch, add more vanilla, ¼ teaspoon at a time; the amount required depends on the vanilla and your palate. An extra pinch of salt sometimes helps too.
- With an electric handheld mixer fitted with two beaters or a whisk attachment, whip the mixture at high speed for about 3 minutes (see note), until you get a firm, spreadable texture like fluffy whipped cream or frosting. Transfer to a 3-to 4-cup storage container, cover, and freeze until firm, 5 to 6 hours, or up to 2 weeks.
- Let the ice cream sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes to soften to a scoopable texture before serving.
- Jenn's note: It's important not to over-whip the ice cream mixture, otherwise it will have a heavy, buttery quality. My mixture had the perfect fluffy whipped cream-like consistency between 2½ and 3 minutes.
- Note: For coffee and chocolate ice cream, hand chop 1½ ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate into very small bits so they will disperse well. After whipping up the ice-cream mixture, use a spatula to gently fold in the chocolate. Freeze as directed. Your yield will be a little more than the original recipe.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 309
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 15 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Sugar: 20 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 95 mg
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I tried the ice cream with unsweetened cocoa. I doubled the recipe (Used all the condensed milk) and 1/2 cup special dark Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa and added a tsp of espresso powder. It turned out thicker. I guess because the cocoa powder is more dense. Still delicious and chocolatey but not as creamy. It was fun experimenting and I will have no problem finding eaters!
Have made three batches of this so far, with no plans to stop! It occurred to me that this recipe would be divine with toffee chips/crushed Heath bar bits, and I was right 😉
This was divine and so simple to make! We opted to add in the chocolate and it was the perfect balance. Thank you for another winning recipe. I haven’t had a bad one yet!
This was SO good! I made it exactly as written except I substituted dark corn syrup because I didn’t have molasses. If you like coffee, you will love this ice cream. It is so creamy and easy to make. You can hardly find coffee ice cream in the store, so now I can make this and always have it on hand. Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh wow! I made this for a back yard picnic and it got rave reviews! It was outstanding! I will share my no fail tips! I put my beaters, metal bowl, and whipping cream in the freezer for 30 minutes first. I put the condensed milk in the fridge. I then followed the recipe to a tee and after 3 1/2 minutes, had the perfect consistency. I added 2 ounces of chopped Bittersweet Ghirardelli and the result was fantastic. I was feeding chocolate fans so left the chocolate a little chunkier. This is a keeper…silky smooth and oh-so flavorful!
Can I just use coffee or espresso and reduce it down?
I don’t recommend it, Carol. Sorry!
This is ITALIAN Espresso Gelato. You can call it Vietnamese if you like but this is the same as Italian Gelato. Delicious and cheap. Make sure you triple the recipe. It’s not enough the way it sits.
As far as I know – and you can correct me if I’m wrong – Italians do NOT traditionally mix espresso with condensed milk. That is the twist. I grew up partly in Saigon and I started drinking Vietnamese coffee as a child at breakfast, prepared lovingly by my Aunt. Later I dated an Italian man from Trieste (home of Illy) and he did not drink his espresso this way.
Vietnam in fact grows coffee in some parts and traditionally it is dark roasted (French-roasted) as the country was colonized by France for many decades.
(It’s also why Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) are slathered with pate and served on a baguette, banh xeo are similar to French savory crepes, and the soup for pho used roasted garlic, onion, ginger and beef bones similar to a French brown stock. I learned all this growing up and only later made the connection with French cooking techniques.)
I tripled the recipe and made in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. Served it for dessert for my son’s birthday dinner this evening. Everyone loved it! Wonderful coffee flavor and so creamy! A winner!
Susnna, I have one of those ice cream makers and never used it….how did you do it for this recipe? Thanks so much.
Hi Martha, be sure you put the freezer bowl in the freezer at least 24 hours before you want to make the ice cream. I just tripled all the ingredients together and put the mixture in the frozen freezer bowl and turned on the machine. Making another batch now! SO GOOD!
I’m assuming you beat all the ingredients together for 3+ minutes and then put it in the ice cream maker?
Had coffee ice cream just a few days ago from a restaurant where the promise was that decaf coffee was used. A few hours later found out that real coffee was what was really used. Can this recipe be made with decaf coffee and if so, what needs to be done to raise the level of the decaf to be the correct intensity needed to approximate the espresso powder?
Hi Angela, by decaf coffee, do you mean instant coffee granules? Thanks for clarifying!
Hey there — I’ve just whipped up a batch using instant decaff espresso. Of course I tasted it before popping it into the freezer and the flavour is intense. Obviously you could use a little less if you desire . (Now, shall I go to my front porch to finish reading “The Mirror and the Light” or shall I just check the ice cream?) It is VERY good!
Greetings from the Pacific Coast. TW
Delicious! Easy! (My favorite recipe types. )
Delicious! Tastes just like Vietnamese coffee! And so easy.
Thank you Jenn, this is fabulous!! I substituted sweetened condensed coconut milk (that is what was in the pantry) and folded in some bittersweet chocolate. I let the mixture freeze for 24 hours in a glass container. I just ate some and it is perfect.
(Glad to have some leftover sweetened condensed milk to make more!)