Ingredients You Need

• Half and half or heavy cream – There is a debate out there about how much butterfat the best ice cream has. It can range anywhere from non-fat all the way up to 20%. Using half and half and whole milk results in the best texture and fat level for me. Use heavy whipping cream if you like your ice cream super creamy.
• Whole milk – I always use whole milk – we’re not pretending this is a low-fat dessert
• Egg yolks – Set the eggs and milk out about 15 minutes before you start to get them to room temp
• Sugar – Granulated sugar is fine in this recipe. If you’re going to replace it with a sugar substitute, I recommend using only allulose, because it doesn’t harden like erythritol and the others do. This makes a big difference.
• Vanilla – Use the highest-quality vanilla you can. The flavor of the vanilla is strong and can be a little off-putting if you use a low-quality vanilla. You can also add vanilla bean to this recipe.
• Salt – A little bit of salt helps to balance the sweetness.
• White Chocolate melting wafers – I’ve tried many brands and I firmly believe that Ghirardelli White vanilla flavored melting wafers are the best.
• Chocolate covered cherries – I use the Queen Anne brand Milk Chocolate Cherry Cordials – they come in a box of 10 pieces.
• Cherry jam – optional

How to Make White Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream

Step One: Heat the Milk Mixture

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, salt, and half the sugar. Stir the mixture constantly as you bring it just to a simmer. Remove from heat.

Step Two: Temper the Egg Mixture

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar just until combined. 

You need to temper the eggs, so they don’t cook. Tempering is just bringing the egg mixture up to a higher heat in a slow way so the egg doesn’t cook from flash heat. It will be easier to temper the eggs if you have allowed the eggs to come to room temperature before you started.

Slowly stir 1/2 cup of the milk mixture in a drizzle into the egg mixture. If you do this slowly enough, the eggs won’t begin to resemble scrambled eggs.

Step Three: Combine and Thicken

Pour that egg mixture back into the saucepan with the milk mixture. Heat over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Do not boil the mixture. If the mixture gets too hot and boils you could end up with scrambled eggs.

Remove the pot from the heat.

Step Four: Pour Over White Chocolate Wafers

As soon as you remove the mixture from the heat, you’ll want to pour it into the bowl of white chocolate that you prepared at the start.

It will start to melt the chocolate right away, so stir it with a spatula until it’s all melted and combined.

Step Five: Chill the Mixture

Pour the mixture into a bowl or container. To avoid putting the hot mixture in the refrigerator, you can chill the mixture over another bowl filled with ice for 10-15 minutes to cool it down first. Just get a second bowl that’s similar size or larger than the one your mixture is in. Fill it with ice and set the bowl with the custard over it. When it’s cooled down a bit, refrigerate it for at least two hours, until it’s cold.（You can also choose to refrigerate the ice cream machine only）

Step Five: Churn the Ice Cream

After the white chocolate ice cream mixture has completely cooled, stir in the half and half and vanilla. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and turn it on.

After 15-30 minutes, add in the chocolate covered cherries, one at a time, so they don’t clump together. Pour any remaining cherry filling into the ice cream maker. 

Pour the ice cream into a stainless steel bowl or loaf pan and put it in the freezer to chill. It will take at least a few hours to freeze up enough to be ready to scoop.