The soft-serve ice cream recipe
for your table
First mix the milk powder with the sugar and salt while dry, so it won’t clump later. Whisk this mixture into the cold milk until nothing remains on the bottom, then stir in the heavy cream.
Refrigerate the covered mixture for at least an hour. A cold mixture thickens faster, and the less time the machine takes, the smaller the ice crystals remain. Stir it once more just before churning.
Churn the mixture in the ice cream maker, but stop earlier than you normally would: as soon as it’s thick and just still slides off the paddle, it’s ready. If you churn it until it reaches scoopable consistency, the airy texture you’re looking for will already be gone.
Spoon the mixture directly into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe it into the glass in a swirl, or spoon it in. Serve immediately, with chocolate flakes, sprinkles, or a spoonful of strawberry sauce on top.
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The story
Soft serve exists thanks to air and temperature. In a soft-serve machine, a shaft rotates through a chilled cylinder, continuously beating air into the mixture while scraping the frozen layer from the wall, keeping the ice crystals small. That air can account for roughly half of the final volume. The machine also dispenses the ice cream at around six degrees below zero, while a regular freezer is set to eighteen below. That twelve-degree difference is precisely why soft serve is soft enough to come out of a nozzle. At home, you cannot quite replicate this: an ice cream maker incorporates less air, and the freezer cools more intensely.
The right glass
The tall, narrow cup from the ice cream shop isn't available, so we choose the closest alternative. A curl of soft serve is mainly tall, and a tall footed glass suits it. According to the description, the 29 cl ice cream glass below is the spacious model with a wide opening, making it easy to garnish along the sides with sauce, chocolate wafers or a wafer. The second is the classic 25 cl sundae from the ice cream shop; the description mentions the foot that keeps your hand away from the bowl, which matters twice as much with soft serve because it comes out of the machine softer than scooped ice cream. Since soft serve cannot go back into the freezer without losing its texture, the size of the glass immediately determines the portion size: fill it with as much as you can serve at once. Taller models are listed under highball glasses.
La Rochère Antillaise Ice Cream Glass 29 cl (6 pieces)
Royal Leerdam Desserts Sundae Glass 25 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 77,90.
The right tools
For soft serve, use a bar spoon alongside the glass to stir the milk powder into the cold milk without lumps, and a grater to grate dark chocolate over the curl, like homemade chocolate wafers. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Grates chocolate over the curl instead of making chocolate wafers
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 68,85.
What will you serve with it?
Soft serve is an ice cream for everyone as it is; if you want to serve something with it at the adults' table, something sparkling works best because the bubbles counter the sweetness. A glass of champagne or crémant alongside it, or a small splash of fruit liqueur over the curl. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works with, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
The chocolate flakes, sprinkles, and strawberry sauce are not decoration but the whole point: soft serve is soft and sweet and calls for something hard or sour alongside it. Chocolate flakes set on the cold ice cream and create a crisp layer, colored sprinkles remain simply sprinkles, and a sauce made from puréed strawberries with a little lemon cuts through the sweetness. Want a different flavor? Stir a spoonful of cocoa into the mixture for the brown version, or make half a batch of each and pipe them into the glass together for two colors in a curl. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Put the glasses in the freezer beforehand, because soft serve comes out of the machine soft and has nothing to hold onto. Pipe or scoop it immediately after churning and bring it straight to the table. You can put it back in the freezer, but then you have scoop ice cream, not soft serve. An ordinary dessert spoon is sufficient; an ice cream scoop is too heavy here.
Good to know
Why is soft serve softer than scoop ice cream?
Because of air and temperature. While churning, a soft-serve machine incorporates a lot of air into the mixture, up to about half the final volume, and dispenses the ice cream at around six degrees below zero. Scoop ice cream is stored at eighteen degrees below zero in the freezer. That difference of about twelve degrees is what you notice on the spoon.
What does milk powder do in the mixture?
Milk powder adds milk protein and milk sugar without extra water. As a result, there is less free moisture that can freeze, the ice crystals remain smaller, and the mixture holds onto the incorporated air better. Ready-made soft-serve mixes contain it for the same reason.
Can soft serve go back in the freezer?
You can, but then you have scoop ice cream. Some of the whipped-in air escapes, the ice cream cools down to eighteen degrees below zero, and the crystals grow, especially if the mixture partially melts and refreezes along the way. So only make as much as can be eaten at once.
Can you make soft serve without an ice cream maker?
Not really. Without a machine, you miss the continuous scraping and whipping in of air, and those are precisely the two things that make soft serve. Stirring by hand every half hour produces a scoopable mixture, but not a swirl that comes out of a nozzle.
What exactly are chocolate discs?
Thin discs of chocolate that set hard as soon as they hit the cold ice cream. You can buy them, but you can also make them yourself: let melted chocolate set in small puddles on baking paper in the refrigerator, then peel them off.
How long does the mixture keep before churning?
Covered in the refrigerator, it will keep for a day or two. Stir it well once more just before churning, because the milk powder may settle to the bottom during that time.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make soft serve at home?
You can get close, but not match it. Soft serve comes from a machine that whips a lot of air into it and dispenses it at around six degrees below zero; a home ice cream maker does less of both. With milk powder in the mixture and by stopping the churning early, you can get the closest result.
Why is milk powder added to soft serve?
Because it makes the mixture more stable. Milk powder adds milk proteins and milk sugar without adding extra water, so there is less moisture to freeze and the whipped-in air stays in place better.
Why does soft serve need to be eaten immediately?
Because its texture depends on temperature. If it goes back into the freezer, it cools down to eighteen degrees below zero, loses air, and the ice crystals become larger. What you scoop from the container afterward is scoop ice cream.
What is the difference between soft serve and scoop ice cream?
Soft serve contains more whipped-in air and is served much warmer, at around six degrees below zero compared with eighteen for scoop ice cream. As a result, it is lighter and softer, and comes from a nozzle instead of an ice cream scoop.
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