Sugar Free Ice Cream That Scoops Like the Real Thing (Made with Allulose)
In short
An upgrade to my original low carb ice cream. The old version was lovely fresh from the churn but set rock hard in the freezer. A viewer suggested allulose, and it fixed it: same taste, but after a couple of days in the freezer you can still spoon it out like traditional ice cream. It’s the same vanilla custard base of milk, cream, six egg yolks and vanilla, sweetened with a cup of allulose.
Key points
- The problem: my first low carb ice cream was great as soft serve, but once frozen it firmed up so much you had to half defrost it every time.
- The fix: a viewer in the comments suggested allulose. Swapping it in made no change to the taste, but the ice cream stays scoopable in the freezer.
- Ingredients: 1 cup of milk (240ml), 2 cups of heavy cream (480ml), 1 cup of allulose (about 200g), 6 egg yolks and 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
- Real vanilla if you can get it. It’s way better, but use whatever you can get.
- Use a heavy-bottomed pan. It helps stop the custard catching on the bottom.
- Don’t overdo the heat. Take the custard too far and it will split and curdle.
- Cool it faster by moving it out of the hot heavy pan into something thinner.
- No churn? No worries. Freeze it in a plastic container and fork through it every 15 or 20 minutes until it’s ice cream. A churn is the best way to go if you’ve got one.
My first low carb ice cream tasted great, but it had one problem: after a night in the freezer it was a frozen brick. In this video I make it again with one change, swapping the sweetener for allulose on a viewer’s tip, and now it scoops straight from the freezer like the real thing.
Method in brief
- Whisk 1 cup of allulose and 6 egg yolks together in a mixing bowl.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat 2 cups of cream, 1 cup of milk and a slug of vanilla extract until it’s just on a boil.
- Slowly pour the hot cream mix into the egg yolks while whisking, so the eggs don’t scramble.
- Put it all back in the pan and stir over the heat until it thickens into a custard. Don’t let it boil, or it may split.
- Transfer it into a thinner pan or bowl and let it cool completely.
- Churn it in an ice cream maker until it’s like soft serve, then put it in a container and freeze. No churn? Freeze it and fork through it every 15 or 20 minutes until it sets.
Why allulose makes the difference
Allulose is the sweetener here and also what stops the ice cream freezing solid. There’s no change to the taste or flavour, but a couple of days later you can still go to the freezer and spoon it out. The result comes out golden and creamy, a bit like Walls in the old days.
Want the original version, with a chocolate option? Watch the first low carb ice cream video or read the sugar free ice cream post. For more custard-style desserts, try my low carb crème brûlée or the sugar free chocolate mousse.
New to all this? Grab the free Carb Guide, or watch my story and how I lost 23kg in four months.
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Not medical advice. I'm not a doctor, dietitian or nutritionist, just a bloke telling the story of what worked for me. Check with your doctor before changing your diet or medication.
