Paddle pop season means goose eggs, and goose eggs mean it’s time to get the Vitamix out. This is the fuss-free custard base that’s replaced every other paddle pop method in this kitchen — one jug, one blend, no stovetop tempering. Make it plain for scoop-and-serve ice cream, or add the stabilisers below for pops that hold their shape off the stick.
ICE-CREAM & PADDLE POPS – VITAMIX CUSTARD BASE
Ingredients
- 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
- 700ml full cream milk
- 500ml cream, chilled
- 150g egg yolks, weighed (about 8 — chicken, duck or goose, whatever’s laying)
- 35g (2½ tbsp) cornflour
- Pinch salt
Paddle Pop Additions (optional)
- ½ tsp guar gum
- 2 tbsp powdered milk
Method
- For paddle pops, whisk the 35g cornflour, ½ tsp guar gum and 2 tbsp powdered milk together dry, then whisk into a splash of the cold milk to make a smooth slurry. For scoop ice cream, just whisk the 35g cornflour into a splash of cold milk. Set aside.
- Put the 395g tin condensed milk, the remaining milk, 150g egg yolks, pinch of salt and the slurry into the Vitamix.
- Blend, starting on low and increasing to high, until steam escapes and the mix reaches 80°C — about 6–8 minutes.
- Pour into a jug and stir through the 500ml chilled cream to bring the temperature down quickly.
- Rest in the fridge overnight.
- Churn until set, adding any flavours and mix-ins from the list below in the last few minutes of churning.
- For paddle pops, pour into pop moulds and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours. For scoop ice cream, transfer to a container and freeze for a further hour before serving.
Flavour Variations
Vanilla
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract, added to the base before churning.
Mocha
2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water, plus 2 tbsp cocoa. Stir through near the end of churning.
Peanut Butter & Chocolate
125g (½ cup) smooth peanut butter and 25g (¼ cup) cocoa, blended into the base with the other ingredients before cooking — tastes like a Picnic bar.
Mint Choc Flake
Steep 1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves in the milk before cooking, then strain out before adding the eggs. Stir through crumbled chocolate biscuits or a crumbled Flake bar at the end of churning.
Butterscotch
Replace the 395g tin condensed milk with a 395g tin Top ‘n’ Fill caramel — everything else stays the same.
Pistachio & Kefir
125g (½ cup) pistachio paste blended into the base before cooking. Replace 200ml of the milk with 200ml thick kefir, stirred through cold after cooking rather than cooked with the base — the kefir’s there to soften the chemical edge commercial pistachio paste can have.
Toffee & Biscuit Crumb
Crush toffee bits (store-bought or homemade honeycomb) and crumbled vanilla biscuits (Nice or Marie). Stir through as a mix-in in the last minute of churning — this is a mix-in, not a swirl, so keep it evenly distributed rather than layered through.
Choc Flake
2 crumbled Flake bars, stirred through at the end of churning — flakes, not chips, for the texture.
Notes
The flavour quantities above are starting points, not locked numbers — none of them have been tested against this specific base yet. Note actual results as you go so the next batch can be dialled in properly.
No alcohol in this base. The master French-style recipe uses a shot to keep scoop ice cream from setting too hard, but paddle pops need to stay firm, so it’s left out here.
Texture target is firm and chewy, not Magnum-hard — the guar gum, cornflour and powdered milk trio gives stick-hold and chew without engineering a rock-hard pop. If pops are too soft off the stick, push the guar gum up to ¾ tsp next batch.
Egg yolks are weighed rather than counted, since chicken, duck and goose eggs are all in rotation here and sizes vary through the season.