16 years ago I was a couple of months away from turning 20 and my ambition was to become an airline pilot. I had just spent a year in the classroom taking notes, studying all sorts of weather phenomena and mechanical machines, figuring out the difference between propellors and jet engines and on top of that taking the hardest exams ever to prove I had the theoretical knowledge to fly a plane. I passed.
And so I traveled to Scottsdale, AZ in the U.S.A. to complete 6 months of intensive flight training. One of the first days there, my good friend C. and I walked the 10 minutes from our flat to the nearest supermarket to buy several large bottles of water. I think we emptied an entire bottle after getting home. We were not used to desert heat at all.
Our time in Scottsdale was tough and intense. We worked really hard. Our time off was usually spent relaxing by the pool, shopping in P.V. Mall or Fashion Square, drinking coffee at Coffee Plantation and eating our weight in M&Ms and Skittles. But our most favourite treat was Dreyer’s Cookies and Cream ice cream. I don’t think our freezer was ever without a tub of it.
A good Cookies and cream ice cream seems to be a luxe flavour here in Europe. I have only ever seen it as part of the Haagen Daz range which is not cheap in this part of the world. So when I stumbled across this recipe I couldn’t resist. It is simple (no ice cream maker needed) and the possibilities are endless. The ice cream is very smooth and creamy. And with the temperatures here in Berlin having been above 30C these last 2 weeks, it only seems right to sit down and eat this ice cream while remembering my time in the Arizona desert. I made 2 versions of this ice cream, one with the original Oreos and one with my favourite Belgian cookie: Speculoos or Biscoff.
No churn cookies and cream ice cream
(ever so slightly adapted from the original recipe by Kirbie’s Cravings)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 x 400g tin of sweetened condensed milk
400ml whipping cream
4 Oreo cookies
6 Biscoff cookies
Method:
1. In a stand mixer with whisk attached (or use an electric hand mixer), whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
2. Pour the condensed milk into a second bowl. Gently, fold in the whipped cream until it is completely incorporated.
3. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls. Crumble the cookies and add the Oreos to one bowl and the Biscoff to the other. Gently mix.
4. Divide the mixture into 8 small pudding pots and put them in the freezer.
If you prefer to use just 1 type of cookie, use 8 Oreo cookies or 12 Biscoff cookies. Or any other cookie you like. Just crumble a few, mix it into the mixture and see of it you want more or not. Then use a cake tin to freeze the mixture.
5. Let the pots sit in the freezer for at least 8-10 hours. I left them for 24 hours as after 10 hours I found the taste of the condensed milk was still a bit too overpowering.
ENJOY!
