93 ice cream base recipes

Pistachio kulfi pops made the traditional Indian way: whole milk slowly reduced to a concentrated, caramelized base, then frozen with chopped pistachios. No ice cream maker required.

Simple frozen dessert made with ice cream and a splash of sherry, frozen in a tray. A no-bake, 2-ingredient base you can customize with nuts, chocolate, or fruit.

Cardamom kulfi pops made the traditional Indian way, whole milk reduced down to a thick, caramelized base with ground cardamom, then frozen into creamy cones or popsicles. No ice cream maker needed.

Homemade chocolate Irish cream with whiskey, rum, creme de cacao, sweetened condensed milk, and a touch of chocolate syrup. A blender-based copycat of Bailey's that costs less and tastes richer. Serve over crushed ice.

COMMENT: What makes this dessert so irresistible? As it bakes, a pudding sauce forms beneath the cake layer. Cocoa-based and made without eggs, its an old-fashioned treat that should be served with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and a big spoon.

De Luxe rennet custard, an old-fashioned milk-based pudding set with rennet and dressed up with cranberry sauce, toasted coconut, orange segments, raspberries, walnuts, and pineapple. A vintage dessert that tastes like an ice cream sundae, minus the freezer.

Chocolate cream rum balls made from melted semi-sweet chocolate, heavy cream, dark rum, and icing sugar, then rolled in chocolate vermicelli, coconut, or cocoa. Five-ingredient no-bake holiday treat.

Old-fashioned peach pie with sliced fresh peaches, sugar, flour and nutmeg under a hand-woven lattice crust. Baked until the juices bubble through the weave. Serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Be sure to spoon some of the yummy sauce from the bottom of the pan on top of the dumplings after they're baked, and serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Deep-fried ice cream balls coated in almond paste and graham cracker crumbs, served in a peach half with homemade vanilla sauce and chopped walnuts. A restaurant-style showstopper dessert.

Coconut-rolled vanilla ice cream balls floating in hot cocoa spiked with cream of coconut and optional dark rum. Topped with chocolate sauce and a cherry. A showstopper hot chocolate dessert for 8.

Jello ice cream pie: a no-bake summer pie made from Jello powder dissolved with vanilla ice cream and frozen fruit, set in a pie shell. Four ingredients, no oven, retro and refreshing.

No-bake Oreo ice cream cake layered with crushed Double Stuf cookies, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Four ingredients, no oven required.

A fresh blueberry pie with a stovetop filling where most of the berries stay whole and uncooked. Poured into a baked pie shell and chilled, it's fruity, bright, and barely sweet.

Angel food ice cream cake layered with vanilla ice cream and topped with sweetened fresh strawberries. A no-bake summer dessert that serves a crowd of 15 in 15 minutes of active prep.

Fresh peach pie layers ripe sliced peaches under a glossy peach-and-nutmeg glaze in a pre-baked shell. No double crust, no second bake. The classic American summer fridge pie that lets ripe fruit do the talking.