Baileys Mince Pie Ice Cream
This Baileys mince pie ice cream contains the best festive flavours! Super creamy & full of chunky mince pie pieces, this one’s a real treat.
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This homemade ice cream is full of festive flavours! Here, we’re making a Baileys flavoured ice cream & cramming it full of homemade, mince pie pieces. If you love a glass of Baileys and a freshly baked mince pie, this is the dessert for you!
If you’re not a fan of mince pies, feel free to leave them out or replace them with Christmas pudding pieces. It will taste great either way! Or if you’re after another flavour, take a look at the ever growing collection of homemade ice cream recipes on the blog…
I bought an ice cream machine earlier this year & I’ve been churning out homemade ice creams ever since! If there’s a flavour that you’d like to see on the blog, drop a comment at the bottom of this post…
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Simple To Make – Homemade ice creams don’t have to be difficult to make! This recipe includes detailed step by step instructions that are super easy to follow.
- Easy To Scoop – This ice cream has been developed with easy scooping in mind!
- Full Of Christmas Flavours – Every scoop of this ice cream is full of baileys & chunky pieces of mince pie.
Using Baileys In Ice Cream
When alcohol is added into ice cream, it will be softer when frozen. This means we need to add just enough to add flavour without affecting how the ice cream sets.
To make this ice cream, we’re taking my vanilla ice cream recipe & adjusting it to incorporate enough baileys to add a fairly strong flavour. To do this, there’s a couple of things we need to change…
- Replace 100g of whole milk with the same amount of baileys
Baileys is a cream liqueur which means we can replace some of the dairy (in this case whole milk) with it, at a 1:1 ratio. Baileys also has an alcohol content of 17% which means we can use a larger amount compared to other alcohols like rum or vodka. - Reducing the total amount of sugar by 20 grams
100g of Baileys contains around 20 grams of sugar. This means we need to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe by the same amount (20 grams). Adding too much sugar into ice cream will not only make it too sweet but will also make it set too soft in the freezer.
What Mince Pies To Use
For best results, I’d recommend using classic, shortcrust pastry mince pies for this ice cream. These could be shop bought but if you’d like to make your own, half a batch of my classic mince pie recipe will work a treat!
What You’ll Need
- Baileys
For this recipe, you’ll need 100g of baileys. You could use a different cream liquor instead, as long as it has a similar alcohol & sugar content. - Mince Pies
Make sure to use classic, shortcrust pastry mince pies for this ice cream. If you’d like to make your own, I recommend making half a batch of my classic mince pie recipe! - Vanilla
When making ice cream, a small amount of good quality vanilla goes a long way! For this recipe, you can either use half a pod or a teaspoon of vanilla paste. - Milk & Cream
We’re using whole milk & double/heavy cream for this recipe as they contain the most fat. In ice cream, the right amount of fat will give us a smoother texture & a rich flavour. It will also make the ice cream easier to scoop. - Sugar
Light brown sugar & glucose syrup are used for this batch of ice cream. Both of these add sweetness & the glucose helps prevent ice crystals forming. This makes the ice cream smooth & creamy. We’re using light brown sugar for it’s deep, caramelised flavour. - Skimmed Milk Powder
Without getting into the science too much, milk powder absorbs water & helps emulsify the ice cream which in turn, adds creaminess. Using the right amount is crucial as too much milk powder will turn the ice cream gritty. For this recipe, I’ve used Marvel skimmed milk powder. - Egg Yolks
Using egg yolks in our custard base adds fat & richness to our ice cream. For this recipe, we need 85 grams of yolks which is roughly 5 egg’s worth.
How To Make Baileys Mince Pie Ice Cream
The full, printable recipe card for this ice cream can be found at the bottom of this post!
Step 1 – Making The Baileys Custard
To make our Baileys custard base, we first need to place the following ingredients in a large saucepan;
- Double/Heavy Cream
- Whole Milk
- Baileys
- Light Brown Sugar
- Glucose Syrup
- Skimmed Milk Powder
- Sea Salt
These are then whisked to combine then the pan is placed over a low heat until the milk is steaming hot. It’s important to not let the milk & cream boil!
Whilst the milk is warming up, we place egg yolks & light brown sugar into a mixing bowl then whisk to combine. Once the milk & cream is warm, we pour a third of it into the yolks whilst whisking (this is called tempering the eggs) then pour this back into the pan of milk.
Next, we cook the custard over a low heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a temperature of 82°c/180°f. Once cooked, we take the custard off the heat, give it a quick blitz with a stick blender then pass it into a bowl, through a sieve.
Step 2 – Overnight Chill
Once cooked, the custard needs to cool down then get refrigerated overnight. This helps the flavour develop & also means that the custard will be cold when it goes into the ice cream machine, shortening the churn time.
Step 3 – Churning
The next day, the ice cream will be ready to churn. To do this, we pour the chilled custard into an ice cream machine & churn until it is the consistency of soft serve. If you take the temperature with a food probe, it will be around -5°c/23°f once churned.
Whilst our ice cream is churning, we need to cut the mince pies* into small pieces, using a sharp knife. The size of the mince pie pieces is down to personal preference. I like to use pieces that are between 5mm – 1cm in size.
*The mince pies need to have been stored in the fridge so that they don’t warm the ice cream up when we add them in.
Once the ice cream has finished churning, we mix in the mince pie pieces, transfer to a container then leave to set in the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.
Homemade Ice Cream Tips & Tricks
- Chill your custard overnight for a better flavour & texture.
- Dip your scoop in hot water for easier scooping!
- Set your freezer to 18°c/-1°f for the best set.
Equipment Used
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Review
More Recipes To Try!
- Classic Mince Pies
- Brown Butter Mincemeat
- Amaretto Tiramisu
- Halva Ice Cream
- Raspberry Ripple Stracciatella
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Brown Butter & Miso Treacle Tart
- White Chocolate & Hazelnut Panna Cotta With Passionfruit
If you have enjoyed this ice cream recipe, it would mean a lot if you could leave a review & rating!
Baileys Mince Pie Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice Cream Machine
- Digital Temperature Probe
- Large Saucepan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Stick Blender
- 1 Litre Tub
Ingredients
- 320 g Whole Milk
- 260 g Double Cream
- 100 g Baileys
- 100 g Light Brown Sugar
- 40 g Glucose Syrup
- 25 g Skimmed Milk Powder
- ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
- ½ Vanilla Pod Or 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- 85 g Egg Yolks
- 5 Mince Pies Fridge Cold – See Notes
Instructions
Baileys Custard
- Place the milk, cream, baileys, half the sugar, glucose, milk powder, salt & vanilla into a large saucepan.If your using a vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds & add both the pod & seeds to the pan.
- Whisk to combine then place the saucepan over a low heat & leave to warm gently until steaming – don’t let it boil. Make sure to stir the milk regularly with a spatula.
- Whilst the cream is heating up, place the yolks & remaining sugar into a mixing bowl then whisk to combine.
- Once the cream is steaming, pour a third into the yolks, whisking as you do so.This is called tempering the yolks.
- Pour the now tempered yolks back into the saucepan then cook over a low heat until the custard reaches 82°c/180°f, making sure to stir constantly with a rubber spatula.
- Remove the pan from the heat, remove the vanilla pod (if using) then give the custard a blitz with a stick blender.
- Next, pass the custard into a bowl through a sieve.
- Leave to cool to room temperature, stirring regularly then cover the ice cream’s surface with a piece of baking parchment & refrigerate overnight.
Churning
- The next day, pour the chilled custard into an ice cream machine & churn until it is the consistency of soft serve. If you take the temperature with a digital food probe, it will register roughly -5°c/23°f.
- Whilst the ice cream is churning, chop the mince pies into small pieces.The size of the mince pie pieces is down to personal preference. I find that 5mm – 1cm size pieces work well. After you've chopped the mince pies up, return them to the fridge until needed.
- Once the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the mince pie pieces then transfer to a 1 litre tub.
- Leave to set in a freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.
