Homemade vanilla ice cream with cherries and dark chocolate. Just like Ben and Jerry make!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
When we first moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago, I was so excited to have a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop in town. I’m even more excited to share this Copycat Cherry Garcia Ice Cream with you!
Back then my favorite flavor was Cherry Garcia, and it still is, all these years and ice cream flavors later.
If you’ve never had Cherry Garcia ice cream before, you really must try this recipe! Vanilla ice cream with shaved dark chocolate and cherries.
As far as I’m concerned, chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven. Adding them to ice cream is even better!
I use the Cuisinart ice cream maker and I love it. If you’re in the market for an ice cream maker, I highly recommend it.
I adapted this recipe straight from Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Dessert Handbook, so you know it’s going to be as authentic as it gets.
Their recipe calls for fresh cherries, but I find that fresh fruit freezes so well in ice cream, it’s kind of unpleasant to sink your teeth into it.
So I used frozen cherries, which surprisingly end up being easier to bite into once they’re mixed in to the ice cream.
Any dark chocolate bar will work in this recipe, but I find that Hershey’s Special Dark tends to be a bit waxier than other brands, which means it shaves more easily. But ultimately, you can’t go wrong no matter what kind of chocolate you use.
If you only make one homemade ice cream this summer, make this Copycat Cherry Garcia Ice Cream!
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Dark chocolate
- Frozen cherries
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Heavy cream
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Salt
Copycat Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup shaved dark chocolate
- 1/3 cup frozen sweet dark cherries halved
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the shaved chocolate and cherries in separate bowls, cover and refrigerator while you mix the ice cream.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and whisk until completely blended. Whisk in the cream and milk, then stir in the vanilla and salt.
- Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- About 2 minutes before the ice cream is done, add the chocolate and cherries. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container and freeze until ready to serve.
20 comments
Robin
I made this recipe today & it is awesome. Followed it to a T. Cherry Garcia is my favorite ice cream. I usually cut up a banana to put in. For me it’s my banana split fix. Next time I will make w some chopped banana.
Thanks for sharing.
Ross Strong
I swapped out the vanilla for 3/4 teaspoon of almond extract flavor to try and achieve the current cherry garcia flavor. I reduced the sugar to a half cup and that combined with the almond flavoring was still plenty sweet enough, I’ll possibly reduce the amount of almond and sugar even more next time around as it’s still a little sweet and strong flavored for my liking!
Jennifer Jarvis
you don’t have to cook the milk and egg mixture? doesn’t that mean there are raw eggs in the ice cream. sorry I am just confused!!
Susan
I agree about the raw eggs. I cooked the cream and milk slowly over low heat until it bubbles. Beat the eggs until light and fluffy…tempered the eggs with a little hot milk and then poured the egg mixture into the cream and cooked until slightly thickened. Chilled the base and proceeded as directed. It was delish!
Beanthebaker
The Ben and Jerry’s recipe book has recipes with both approaches (cooked custard vs. use of raw eggs). Tempering helps, but only cooking to 140 degrees or so for 1/2 hour (traditional cooked custard method) will kill salmonella. I’ve made both recipes with no issues on the raw egg method, but I’d rather be safe and use the full cooked custard method, especially if you’re sharing the finished product with others. Plus, for me, it seems to create a richer consistency.