The best Cotton Candy Ice Cream recipe! This rich and creamy homemade ice cream delivers nostalgic cotton candy flavor in every bite and has gorgeous pink and blue swirls for a fun, eye-catching treat.
Cotton Candy Ice Cream is about to become your new favorite ice cream! Not only is it gorgeous with its pink and blue swirls, but it tastes absolutely incredible, too. The texture is spot on. Rich, creamy, thick, fluffy, with a little chew, and the best cotton candy flavor.
For years, my kids’ birthday tradition has been choosing any ice cream flavor they want. They can be as fun and creative as they’d like! This year, my daughter requested Cotton Candy Ice Cream, and honestly, I had no idea how to make it.
The version I made for her birthday turned out great, but since then, I’ve tested and tweaked the recipe over and over until it became something truly special. Now it’s not only a family favorite, but one of my personal favorites too. My kids beg me to make it every week! I’m not even a big cotton candy fan, but this recipe completely changed my mind. It’s easily one of my top three favorite ice cream flavors of all time!
Ingredients Needed to Make The Best Cotton Candy Ice Cream:
- Granulated Sugar- Sugar does more than add sweetness to ice cream. It helps create a soft, creamy texture and keeps the ice cream from freezing too hard. Plus, of course, it tastes so good!
- Milk powder- After researching more about ice cream, I learned that milk powder helps create a richer, creamier ice cream by adding milk solids, which improve the texture and reduce iciness.
- Xanthan gum- This is actually super easy to find! Most grocery stores have it, or you can buy it on Amazon. You just add a tiny bit, and it acts as a stabilizer, helping the ice cream stay smooth and scoopable while preventing ice crystals from forming. If you prefer to use corn starch, I’ve added a note to the recipe on how to do that.
- Heavy Whipping Cream- Obviously a very important ingredient! It adds richness and fat, giving the ice cream its smooth, luxurious texture and creamy mouthfeel.
- Milk- Lightens the mixture and balances the richness of the cream while still keeping everything smooth and creamy.
- Light Corn Syrup- Light corn syrup adds a slight chew and gives the ice cream a more elastic, stretchy texture. Trust me, it’s worth it! If you really like more chew to your ice cream, add another tablespoon than what I call for in the recipe.
- Cotton candy extract- This is the secret to getting the perfect cotton candy flavor! Just a little goes a long way! It honestly smells so good, too! I love this cotton candy extract.
- Blue or/and pink food coloring- What you have on hand should work just fine. I found Americolor Royal Blue and Americolor Soft Pink to work best for this recipe. (Start slow with just a little to get the right color.)
- Sprinkles- If you want this ice cream to be extra fun, you could add sprinkles! These are the sprinkles I used.
ICE CREAM MAKER SUGGESTIONS:
My original go-to Ice Cream Maker is this one from Cuisinart with a freezer bowl. You just need to prepare ahead of time and have the bowl in the freezer. It’s a good and trusty ice cream maker!
My newest ice cream maker is this Cuisinart compression machine. I love that I don’t have to freeze the bowl and can make ice cream over and over again! It is a little pricey, but 100% worth saving up for!
How to Make The Best Cotton Candy Ice Cream:
Mix Dry Ingredients- Stir milk powder, sugar, and xanthan gum in a small bowl until fully combined.
Heat Dairy Base- In a saucepan, heat cream, milk, and corn syrup over medium-high heat, whisking often, until it reaches a full boil.
Add Sugar Mixture- Whisk in the dry ingredients, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. (Stay close! It can boil over easily if it gets too hot.)
Strain and Cool- Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, then place in an ice bath and stir until cool.
Add Flavor and Color– Stir in cotton candy extract. Divide and color with pink and blue food coloring if desired. (or double the batch)
Chill- Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight for the best texture.
Churn- Pour into ice cream maker and churn until soft serve consistency forms.
Swirl and Freeze- Transfer to a container. If swirling colors, let it freeze for a couple of hours, then layer and swirl together. Freeze until firm, then serve.
You are going to LOVE this recipe! With all my recipe testing this past month, I have shared this with friends and neighbors, and they are all obsessed! Even those who didn’t think they love cotton candy are obsessed!
I’d love to hear what you think after you make and enjoy this recipe! 😊
Enjoy!
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
- Peach Ice Cream
- Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich
- Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
The Best Cotton Candy Ice Cream
The best Cotton Candy Ice Cream recipe! This rich and creamy homemade ice cream delivers nostalgic cotton candy flavor in every bite and has gorgeous pink and blue swirls for a fun, eye-catching treat.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (150 g) Granulated Sugar
- 3 tablespoons (20 g) Milk powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum*
- 2 cups (380 g) Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) Milk
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) Light Corn Syrup
- pinch of salt
- .75 ml. (~1/4 tsp.) Cotton Candy Extract
- Blue and/or Pink Food Coloring
Instructions
- Combine the milk powder, granulated sugar, and xanthan gum in a small bowl. Stir until fully combined.
- Place the cream, milk, and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking to discourage the milk from scorching, until it comes to a full boil. (Stay close; it can easily boil over if it gets too hot.)
- Add the granulated sugar mixture and whisk it in well. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching.
- Strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a shallow metal or glass bowl. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Nest the bowl of the hot ice cream base into this ice bath, stirring occasionally until it cools.
- Once it has cooled down, stir in a pinch of salt and the cotton candy extract. If you’d like the blue and pink swirls, you can either double this recipe and make one batch blue and one batch pink, or you can make this recipe and pour half the ice cream mixture into another bowl, and add blue food coloring to one bowl and pink to the other.
- Transfer the ice cream base to the refrigerator and let it sit for at least four hours, preferably overnight.
- When ready to churn, place the base into the bowl of your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream is ready when it thickens into the texture of soft-serve ice cream.
- When it’s done churning, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container. If making the blue and pink swirls, put each ice cream in a separate container. Once mostly set, in another container, alternate adding blue and pink scoops, then use a knife to swirl it. Let it freeze for a few more hours after swirling the colors together. When you scoop it, you will have beautiful blue and pink swirls! Enjoy!
Notes
*or you can use 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
instead. Whisk it into 2 tablespoons of the cold milk from the recipe, then
whisk it into the simmering dairy mixture on the stove-top, and cook for 1 minute.
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