When you think of butterscotch, what does it conjure? A sweet sauce drizzled over desserts? Old school hard candies? Or maybe the main flavor of the beloved blondie? No matter what you associate with butterscotch, it pairs well with so many different sweets. While it’s pretty famous as a topping for ice cream, it also tastes delicious in ice cream. If you’re looking for a classic dessert that can please everybody, this easy butterscotch ice cream is the way to go.

About Butterscotch

Butterscotch was originally a hard candy from the town of Doncaster in Yorkshire, England. Created by confectioner Samuel Parkinson in 1817, Parkinson Butterscotch stopped production in 1977 and disappeared until the original recipe was rediscovered in 2003. Contemporary confectioners ran with the recipe and continue to make the candy in its classic style. Today butterscotch is a popular dessert flavor. It’s commonly confused with caramel, but has a key difference: caramel is based on white sugar, while butterscotch is based on brown sugar. The addition of the molasses in the brown sugar gives it a sweeter, richer flavor that lacks the bitterness of regular caramel.

Butterscotch Sauce

The most basic butterscotch sauce is brown sugar melted with butter – though it can also contain additions like heavy cream, vanilla and salt. Whereas caramel sauce has the finicky tendency to crystallize as you boil the sugar, the butter and molasses in butterscotch helps the sugar dissolve evenly and prevent crystallization. If you find the technical expertise of caramel sauce intimidating, try making butterscotch sauce first.

About Butterscotch Ice Cream

Good ice creams need a good topping. There’s been quite a history of butterscotch sauce being used as a topping for ice cream – using both homemade and jarred versions of the sauce. But then someone had the brilliant idea to just add butterscotch to the ice cream itself. Now even major ice cream brands have jumped on the butterscotch bandwagon after its early 21st century renaissance and produced their own version of butterscotch rippled, butterscotch candy or chip filled, or even just butterscotch flavored ice cream. Now is a great time to be a butterscotch aficionado. Luckily for butterscotch lovers out there anticipating a hot summer, there are also recipes for making homemade butterscotch ice cream. And what could be better than a sweet, cooling scoop of butterscotch ice cream at the end of a sweltering day? This recipe is for an egg-free butterscotch ice cream. All you need is some heavy cream and a premade can of sweetened condensed milk. Simply whip some heavy cream, combine it with the condensed milk and homemade butterscotch sauce, and in a few hours you’ll have perfect low-effort butterscotch ice cream. For more Ice cream recipes, you can checkBasic No-churn Ice CreamPista Ice CreamChocolate Ice CreamCustard Powder Ice CreamMango Ice Cream

How to Make Butterscotch Sauce (Stepwise pictures)

  1. Heat a pan and add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. As it begins to melt, add 1 cup dark brown sugar.
  2. Pour 1 cup heavy whipping cream.
  3. Mix well and bring it to a gentle boil on a medium flame. Boil for 5 mins on a medium heat, scraping down the sides & mixing every 2 mins.
  4. After 5 mins, it turns slightly thicker but is way runny. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
  5. This is the consistency, it is still of flowy and pouring consistency. Turn off the stove and cool it completely. After cooling you will find the butterscotch sauce much thicker.
  6. Transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate until used. You can make this sauce ahead and store.
  7. This is the consistency after refrigerating. Leave it out for a while.

How to Make Butterscotch Ice Cream

  1. Chill the bowl and attachments for at least overnight to 24 hours. Also chill the cream.
  2. Pour 3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream to the bowl. Begin to whip on a low speed & then on a medium speed until you see stiff peaks.
  3. Do not over whip the cream. It takes about 7 to 8 mins to get to this stage.
  4. Pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. For a less sweeter ice cream you may reduce some of the condensed milk.
  5. Reserve 1/4 of the prepared butterscotch sauce and pour the rest. The sauce turns slightly thick after cooling & refrigerating but should be still of pouring consistency.
  6. Gently fold them with the whipped cream, without deflating.
  7. Taste test and add more condensed milk if required. Level the ice cream. Pour little butterscotch sauce.
  8. Sprinkle praline. You can make it from my Praline Recipe or use store bought.
  9. Place a unbleached parchment paper or cling wrap over the cream. Press down so it touches the ice cream. This helps to prevent ice crystals. Cover and freeze overnight or until set. I freeze it for 15 hours. Since this is not churned in a machine, it is best to finish it in a couple of days. Ice crystals may form if kept for many days. When you are ready to serve, leave the ice cream on the counter for a while. Scoop butterscotch ice cream to bowls. Drizzle some sauce and sprinkle praline.

Variations

Butterscotch ice cream is different in many countries. In India, butterscotch ice cream consists of no butterscotch sauce but just praline and some butterscotch essence added to the ice cream base. If you want to make that, you may skip making the sauce and simply make this Praline Recipe. Use butterscotch essence as directed on the bottle. In Singapore we get something similar to what I have shown in this post. It has very little crushed hard candy added for topping and more flavor comes from the butterscotch sauce itself. Making the butterscotch sauce just takes about 15 mins. But if that is not your thing, you may opt for the store bought butterscotch sauce. Just make the ice cream and add the sauce.

Pro Tips

Chill your beaters, bowls, and ingredients before starting this recipe. Cold heavy cream whips up faster and a cold ice cream base means a faster setup time in the freezer.Make sure you use heavy cream when making this ice cream. Heavy cream has 36% fat content, and you need at least 30% fat content to help suspend all the air bubbles you whip into the cream. The air whipped into the heavy cream keeps the ice cream light and mimics the churning in an ice cream machine.Add the ice cream to a freezer-safe metal pan. Metal pans help foods cool quicker, and faster freezing means less ice crystals.This ice cream tastes best when consumed within a few days, or else it may get icy when stored for longer periods. Use a custard base made with cornstarch and milk if you want an ice cream that stores for longer in the freezer.

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Butterscotch Ice Cream First published in March 2018. Updated and republished in April 2022.

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