Kitchen
Frozen desserts, your ingredients: rethinking ice cream at home
Six textures from one machine, and why controlling the base matters more than the recipe.
4 min read · 2026 guide
Commercial ice cream is engineered around shelf stability: stabilisers, sugar levels and overrun exist to survive a supply chain, not to taste best in your kitchen. Making it at home removes those constraints entirely.
Texture is mechanical, not magical
The difference between gelato, sorbet and slush is largely how the frozen base is broken up. Dense and slow gives gelato. Fast and airy gives ice cream. Coarse and loose gives slush. A machine like the Jeroma Icey applies a different spin profile per programme, so a single base can become several desserts.
Working with less sugar
Sugar does more than sweeten: it lowers the freezing point and keeps the result scoopable. Cut it heavily and you get an ice block. The workarounds are straightforward once you know them.
- Add a little fat — cream, coconut milk or full-fat yoghurt — to restore softness.
- A spoonful of alcohol-free glycerine-style sweetener helps texture, not just taste.
- Re-spin straight from the freezer instead of waiting for it to thaw.
- Fruit-based sorbets do best with ripe, high-sugar fruit rather than added sweetener.
Practical notes
Freeze the pint solid and level, usually overnight. Do not overfill past the line. Wash the paddle by hand. These three habits account for almost every good or bad result people report.
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