Skip to main content
Epicurious
Bon Appétit

Candy Cane Ice Cream in a Bag

Candy Cane Ice Cream in a Bag recipe
Photographs by Josephine Schiele. Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich.

No ice cream maker, no problem. With this technique, you can whip up a bowl of ice cream all by yourself using just two zip-top bags, rock salt, and a bunch of ice. Shaking the bag for a full 10 minutes, which is longer than you might think, is critical! Wear gloves and shake outdoors or over a sink to catch any drips.

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    1 Serving

Ingredients

½ cup half-and-half
¼ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. peppermint extract
Pinch of kosher salt
½ cup rock salt
Red gel food coloring and crushed candy cane (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Whisk half-and-half, cream, sugar, peppermint extract, and kosher salt in a small bowl to combine; chill ice cream base in freezer 15 minutes.

    Step 2

    Fill a 1-gal. resealable plastic bag two thirds of the way with ice (4–8 cups, depending on the size of your ice). Add rock salt, close bag, and shake to combine. Remove ice cream base from freezer and stir to incorporate any sugar at the bottom of the bowl. Pour into a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag and close. Place into larger bag with ice. Seal larger bag and shake and smush ice around until ice cream is firm, 10–12 minutes.

    Step 3

    Remove ice cream from bag of ice. (If it is too firm to scoop from bag, massage with your hands for a minute to soften ice cream.) Scoop ice cream into a clean small bowl. Using a toothpick, add food coloring to ice cream, dragging it through to create streaks. Top with candy cane pieces.

TagsDessertFrozen DessertEasy5 Ingredients or FewerNut FreeGluten FreeIce CreamChristmasBon Appétit

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
Cranberry-Wine Swirl Cookies
These pinwheel-style swirls pair classic sugar cookie dough with cranberry and red wine jam. They’re equally at home on a cheese plate and served as dessert.
Key Lime Pie Thumbprint Cookies
The classic dessert reimagined as a soft and chewy cookie with a buttery, brown-sugar-sweetened graham cracker dough and a silky lime custard filling.
Homemade Bagels
Crusty, chewy, and actually easy. No lye or barley syrup needed.
Cassata Slab Cake
This sheetcake version of Italian cassata houses a booze-soaked spongecake and sweet ricotta under a blanket of green marzipan dotted with candied fruit.
Plum Karpatka (Polish Cream Puff Cake)
With dramatic choux layers and fruit-rippled cream, it’s the drag queen of Polish desserts.
Giant Garlic Knot
This savory babka is braided with a whole head of garlic, fresh parsley, and salty Parmesan.
Berries and Cream Mille-Feuille
Think flag cake—but with crisp puff pastry, whipped cream, and layers of fresh berries.
Morning Buns
Tender, buttery breakfast pastries with crisp caramelized edges, a fragrant cinnamon-orange filling, and a crackly sugar topping.