Scoop Kitchen
The four jobs
- Fat (cream, cheese, egg yolks, coconut, nut butter) makes a tubpint rich and creamy. Too much feels greasy and can churn into butter. See greasy or waxy.
- Sugar and sweeteners sweeten and keep part of the water from freezing hard, so the tubpint spins soft. Too little and it comes out powdery or icy; too much and it is soft and runny.
- Solids (milk solids, protein, cocoa, fruit fiber) give body and keep ice crystals small. Too many can make it heavy, sandy or chalky.
- Thickeners (xanthan gum, pudding mix, cornstarch, cream cheese) hold water so lean tubspints stay smooth. A pinch is plenty: too much is gummy or slimy.
Amounts below are for one 473 ml16 oz (473 ml) tubpint. For a 709 ml24 oz Deluxe tubpint, use 1½ times as much.
Dairy and eggs
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole milk | The main liquid. A little fat and milk solids. | 230–400 ml (1–1⅔ cups) | On its own, with little sugar: icy and thin. |
| Heavy cream | Richness and a creamy, smooth body. | 120–170 ml (½–¾ cup), about 40% of the liquid | Greasy, and it turns buttery after Re-spins. |
| Cream cheese | Body and smoothness, fewer ice crystals. | 15–30 g (1–2 tbsp) | Dense and cheesecake-like. |
| Mascarpone | Very rich, silky body. | 30–60 g | Heavy and greasy. |
| Greek yogurt or skyr | Tang, protein and body. | 100–300 g | Sour, and icy if it is fat-free with little sugar. |
| Cottage cheese | Protein and body. Blend it completely smooth. | 200–300 g | Grainy if not blended. |
| Egg yolks | Richness and a dense, custard texture. A natural emulsifier. Cook them. | 2–4 | Eggy and heavy. |
| Sweetened condensed milk | Sweet, milky and soft. | Up to a quarter of the base | Too sweet, and sandy after a week or two. |
| Milk powder | Extra milk solids for body. | 1–2 tbsp (8–15 g) | Sandy: milk sugar crystallizes. |
Sugar and sweeteners
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | Sweetness and softness. | 50–75 g (¼–⅓ cup) in ice cream, 45–110 g in sorbet | Too soft and too sweet. |
| Honey or golden syrup | Softer than sugar, gram for gram, with its own flavor. | 1–3 tbsp, in place of some sugar | Soft, sticky and slow to freeze. |
| Glucose or corn syrup | Smoother, less icy sorbets and lean tubspints, but firmer than sugar and less sweet. | 1–2 tbsp, in place of some sugar | Chewy and sticky. |
| Maple syrup | Sweetness and flavor. Softens about like sugar. | 1–3 tbsp, in place of some sugar | Too sweet. |
| Allulose | Sugar-free, and softens even more than sugar does. About 70% as sweet. Not sold in the EU or the UK. | The same weight as the sugar, never more | Too soft and quick to melt. |
| Erythritol | Sugar-free bulk, but it freezes hard and can feel cold or gritty. | At most half of the sweetener | Hard, gritty and cooling. |
| Stevia, monk fruit, sucralose | Sweetness only, no softening. | To taste | Bitter, and the tubpint freezes hard. |
More on swaps in the sugar substitutes guide.
Thickeners
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xanthan or guar gum | Binds water, keeps ice crystals small. | ⅛ to ¼ tsp, never more (up to ⅜ tsp in a 709 ml24 oz Deluxe tubpint) | Slimy, gummy, slick like Vaseline. |
| Instant pudding mix | Body for lite and protein tubspints. | 1 tbsp (about 9 g), 2 at most | Pasty and starchy. |
| Cornstarch | Body in gelato. Cook it until it thickens. | 1–2 tbsp, cooked | Floury and pasty. |
Use one thickener, not three. More in the pudding mix guide.
Protein
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whey protein | Protein and some body. It whips up airy. | 1 scoop (25–35 g) | Foamy, chalky. |
| Whey/casein blend or casein | Thick and creamy. | 1 scoop | Gummy, like putty. |
| Pea or soy protein | Protein for vegan tubspints. Soy is smoother. | 1 scoop | Chalky. |
| Ready-to-drink protein shake | A whole base on its own, already thickened. | Up to the max fill line | Slimy if you add more gum. |
More in the protein ice cream guide.
Plant milks and vegan bases
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oat milk | Creamy for a plant milk, a little sweet. | As the main liquid | Alone, with little sugar or fat: icy. |
| Soy milk | Protein and a creamy body. | As the main liquid | A beany taste. |
| Almond milk | Light and thin. | With something richer | Icy and powdery. |
| Coconut milk | Richness for vegan tubspints. | Up to one 400 ml can | Waxy, very coconutty. |
| Coconut cream | Twice as rich as coconut milk. | Up to half of the liquid | Waxy, coats like lip balm. |
More in the dairy-free guide.
Flavor
| Ingredient | What it does | Per 473 ml16 oz tubpint | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cocoa powder | Chocolate flavor. Dries the base a little. | 2–4 tbsp, whisked to a paste first | Chalky, bitter, powdery. |
| Melted chocolate | Flavor and fat. | 30–60 g | Hard flecks if it hits a cold base, and heavy. |
| Nut butters and spreads | Flavor and fat. | 2–4 tbsp | Heavy and greasy. |
| Fruit and juice | Flavor, natural sugar and a lot of water. | To taste | Icy. Acid can curdle milk, and fresh pineapple or kiwi turn dairy bitter. |
| Alcohol | Flavor, and a softer tubpint. | Up to 2 tbsp (30 ml) of spirits | Will not freeze firm: soupy. |
| Salt | Brings sweetness and flavor forward. | A pinch | Salty. |
Swaps that keep the balance
- Less cream: replace it 1:1 with whole milk, and add 15 g cream cheese if you want to keep the body.
- Less sugar: cut up to a quarter, add 1 tbsp pudding mix or 15 g cream cheese, and expect a Re-spin.
- No dairy: half coconut milk and half oat or soy milk spins richer than any plant milk alone.
- More protein: swap part of the milk for Greek yogurt or skyr before you add more powder.
Want the numbers for your own recipe? Paste it into the recipe check, and read how to balance a base.
