This is a simple yet indulgent Tutti Frutti Ice Cream recipe packed full with little gems of candied fruits. My recipe for Tutti Frutti also has a bit of alcohol in it too but this of course can be kept out if making for children.
What Flavour is Tutti Frutti?
I think that Tutti Frutti has to be one of the most difficult flavours to pin down. It’s a well known flavour, take the jelly beans for instance, straight away you know it’s Tutti Frutti but WHAT exactly is Tutti Frutti flavour? The reason it’s so hard to pin down is because it is so many flavours in one ice cream. The base flavour tends to be a citrus flavour, often orange or another citrus fruit. Then to that base you add candied fruits, the more the better, in fact a whole rainbow of fruits if you can.
In my dairy free Tutti Frutti recipe I’ve tried to add colours from different fruits. You could go for a cheats version and buy some of those multi coloured glace cherries. You get green, red and yellow in one pot if you do that. However, you’re only going to be adding a glace cherry to the ice cream, and where’s the fun in that?
With my recipe you get a different mini taste experience with each and every spoonful of ice cream.
It’s not unheard of that liqueurs are added to Tutti Frutti ice creams to add another level of depth to the flavour. I’ve gone all in here and added not one but two flavours by adding Amaretto and an orange flavoured gin (Cointreau would work well too but I didn’t have any left).
Not adding these will not ruin the flavour so if you need an alcohol free/child friendly ice cream simply omit the booze.
Where does Tutti Frutti come from originally?
The answer to ‘Where does Tutti Frutti come from?’ depends on whether you’re asking about Tutti Frutti, or Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?
Tutti Frutti – is a collection of candied fruits, kind of like a candy mixed salad. Depending on the country of origin, depends on the fruit. In India it can be that only papaya is used. How do you get the different colours? I hear you ask. Well you simply add natural food colourings to chopped and blanched papaya. Then the fruit is candied in sugar syrup and left to harden. In Italy, you find that Tutti Frutti is a combination of fruits, in fact ‘Tutti Frutti‘ translates as ‘all fruits‘ in Italian. The fruits use are quite exotic due to the climate and can consist of pineapple, water melon, cherries and raisins. In America they use similar fruits but frequently soak them in brandy.
Tutti Frutti Ice Cream – the recipe for this has been found dating back to 1860 according to an American art journal called The Crayon which published from 1700’s to the 1900’s. I excitedly reached for my Mrs Beeton Book of Household Management but the recipe didn’t make it to our shores in the UK at this time. As with many of the greats, there is some dispute about who invented Tutti Frutti ice cream for consumers but having read up on this I’m 99% confident that Leopold’s Ice Cream Parlor (or Parlour) in Savannah, USA were the first. Whilst the original recipe is a close guarded secret, the elements are effectively ice cream with liqueur soaked Tutti Frutti and is pink in colour. I think the pink is possibly where the colours have seeped into the liqueur.
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What fruits are added to a Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?
As I’ve mentioned above the fruits added are varied dependant on what part of the world you are in. For this recipe I have used candied versions of the following;
- pineapple
- mixed peel (orange and lemon)
- glace cherries
- angelica
Angelica is a wild celery that is harvested and commonly used for medicinal purposes or candied and coloured vibrant green to add to baking. It can also be found to flavour gin and some French liqueurs.
What dairy free cream is best for ice cream?
Dairy Free / Vegan Creams
I get asked ‘what is the best dairy free cream to use’ a lot, so I’ve added some advice here.
Baked recipes
If using cream alternatives in baked recipes the type of cream matters less but care needs to be taken when cooking it as dairy free cream can still split like dairy cream. Therefore you are free to use any of the following brands; Elmlea (single or double), Alpro (single), Food Heaven – Heavenly (Sweetened or Unsweetened), Coconut Cream (any % or coconut extract)
No Bake recipes
Usually in a no bake recipe the cream you add is part of the building block to add structure. For example whipped cream in a Victoria Sponge Gateau. For this reason you need to use a dairy free cream that has the highest fat content so a double cream (Elmlea produce double plant cream) or a Coconut Cream that has 60+ of coconut extract. However, Heavenly also behaves well when whipped.
Ice Creams
I have made my ice creams with all the dairy free creams mentioned above, single, double, high fat, low fat and all work because I always add a little dairy free butter to stabilise the structure so you can use all types of plant/soya/coconut dairy free creams.
How to make vegan condensed milk
Dairy Free and Vegan Condensed Milk Recipe
Empty a 400ml tin of coconut milk into a medium saucepan, add 150g caster sugar and stir to combine. Place on a high heat and stir until bubbling. Turn heat down to a gentle rolling boil and leave for 15 minutes. Don’t leave unattended and stir occasionally, the condensed milk will halve in volume and go a wallpaper paste colour! Remove from the heat, pour into a glass heatproof jug and cool to room temperature, this will take about an hour.
For the full recipe, method and top tips head to my Easy Dairy Free Condensed Milk recipe.
Other delicious and simple dairy free ice cream recipes
Creamy Diary Free Tutti Frutti Ice Cream Recipe
Creamy Dairy Free Tutti Frutti Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 300 g dairy free condensed milk [to make you own see post or notes]
- 200 ml dairy free cream on this occasion I used Elmlea Double
- 30 g butter or butter alternative (I use Flora plant butter) I used Flora Plant Butter
- 1 tbsp almond liqueur (optional) I used Amaretto
- 1 tbsp orange liqueur (optional) I used orange gin
- 50 g angelica chopped into small pieces
- 50 g candied mixed peel
- 50 g glace cherries
- 50 g candied pineapple pieces
Instructions
- If making your own condensed milk do this first and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- If using alcohol you have the option to measure out the angelica, mixed peel, cherries and pineapple and add the 2tbsp of different or same liqueurs and let these stand for a while. How long is up to you and depends on how quickly you want your ice cream.Note: for this recipe I did not do this and simply added the 2tbsp of liqueur to the ice cream as I made it, this kept the ice cream a creamy white colour.
- In a mixing bowl beat your cream and softened butter until it stiffens.
- Add the condensed milk (liqueur if adding separately) and beat again to combine.
- Now using a silicone spatula fold in most of the candied fruits, keep some back to decorate your tub of ice cream.
- Spoon the ice cream into a large enough container – this makes approx 900ml of ice cream
- Once smoothed down top with the leftover candied fruits to decorate.
- Freeze for about 12hrs and then you're ready to serve on it's own or accompanying a dessert.
Notes
Nutrition
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I want to make this for/with my Indian friend (only mentioning where she’s from cause I think it might impact the type of Tutti Frutti that she likes… probably papaya). She’s lactose intolerant as am I, so this recipe is great. Thank you!
I’m thrilled you’ve found a recipe you can both enjoy. No need to explain your comment, it very much does make a difference in expectations of the fruits involved. Thank you for commenting and enjoy xx
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
Thrilled to hear you all loved in Helan
Love this! I’m also going to be repeating the phrase “tutti frutti” for the rest of the day. it just feels so nice to say!!!
I agree and I shall join you ;-)