Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

I don't eat to live. I live to eat.

Ras Malai Ice Cream

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Ras Malai is a traditional Indian dessert most often served at weddings. It consists of a sponge-like discs soaked in a sweet milk syrup flavored in cardamom and saffron. It’s got an interesting texture – some hate it and liken it to wet paper, others love it and find it incredibly addictive.

Well no matter how you may feel about ras malai, you are going to love this ice cream.

And no, this is not kulfi (which is made with khoya). I’ll save that recipe for another day.

And the best part is that it requires no ice cream machine at all!

I am not a fan of the three-ingredient no churn ice cream – sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, sugar that’s swept the food blogging world by a storm in the past few years. It tastes like sweet whipped cream to me. Not ice cream.

So instead, I decided to go with a lovely semifreddo base. Semifreddo in Italian translates into “Semi-frozen” and is a cross between gelato and soft-serve. To start off, I whisk egg yolks and sugar together over a double-broiler until it thickens and turns pale yellow. I then fold in heavy cream that’s been whipped into stiff peaks to give it a heavenly airy-like consistency.

Since this is ras malai, I of course added saffron and cardamom. But since most Indian desserts contain those two ingredients anyway, that in itself is not enough to get someone to recognize that this indeed is a ras malai ice cream.

My secret ingredient is ricotta cheese.

Okay, do not freak out. I know what you’re thinking. Ricotta is not found in Ras Malai whatsoever. 

But I’m telling you, It’s genius. Ras malai is made out of milk that’s been curdled and strained – the makings of cottage cheese or paneer. Ricotta gives this ras malai ice cream a very similar texture without giving a funny taste.

To round everything about, I add in a squeeze of lemon juice and stir everything together. I pour it all into a tubberware container with a lid on it (or if you want to go that traditional semifreddo shape, you can use a loaf pan) and plop it straight into the freezer. This ice cream takes about 6 hours to freeze or preferably overnight.

And there you have it, a super fun ice cream that is sure to wow all your guests! It’s bold, it’s sweet, it’s creamy, and is the complete embodiment of an Indian summer in a cone.

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Ras Malai Ice Cream

A no machine ice cream using a semifreddo custard base flavored with saffron and cardamom

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5-7 saffron threads
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (or to taste)
  • 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp crushed almonds and/or pistacchios optional

Instructions

  1. Set up a double broiler. Add an inch of water to a pot. Bring to a boil. Find a bowl that fits over the bowl without touching the water. 

  2. In the bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Add on top of double broiler. Lower the heat. Whisk vigorously for five minutes, or until mixture has turned a pale yellow. Do not let eggs overcook and scramble or else you will have to start over!

  3. Remove custard from double boiler and allow to cool. 

  4. Using an electric or hand-held mixer, whip up the heavy cream until you get stiff peaks. Once custard has cooled, fold it into the mixture.

  5. Soak the saffron strands in 1 tsp of hot water. Add to the ice cream. 

  6. Add in your ricotta, lemon juice, cardamom. Combine thoroughly. 

  7. Pour into container and cover. Let it freeze for at least 6 hours or ideally overnight.

  8. When serving garnish with chopped nuts (optional).