Salted Honey Ice Cream combines mellow sweetness with a subtle twang of salt. It can be scooped straight from the freezer and it is exceptionally creamy. This uniquely flavoured ice cream with honey & sea salt is chilly bliss.
Don't miss my dark chocolate honey ice cream - it's magical.
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Why I Love This Recipe
- Taste: The honey lends a mellow sweetness to the ice cream and duets perfectly with the subtle twang of salt.
- Texture: This ice cream is incredibly soft & velvety. It's also scoopable straight from the freezer.
- Unique: I bet you cannot find honey ice cream, let alone salted honey ice cream in the freezer aisle at your supermarket.
- Ice cream churner not essential: we provide step-by-step instructions to make this salted honey ice cream recipe either by hand or in a machine.
Jump to:
Salted Honey ice cream is a spin-off idea of mine from my Cinnamon Chocolate Cake with Salted Honey Buttercream as it was so well received by readers.
This honey sweetened ice cream is made using just 6 ingredients and the result is one of the creamiest, most sublime flavour combinations I've ever come across in ice cream form.
Ingredients notes
Honey: This is a magical ingredient in ice cream and, in this recipe, it takes the place of regular sugar completely. Honey does not fully freeze so the ice cream it creates is softer than typical ice cream.
Egg yolks: These help create a rich and thick custard base.
Milk & Cream: I use equal measures whole milk (full fat milk) and double cream (heavy cream) in this recipe for honey ice cream to ensure it is luxuriously creamy.
Sea salt (optional): Use sea salt flakes rather than salt grains.
Step by step instructions
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the ice cream base
- Put the milk and vanilla bean paste into a medium-sized pan (heavy based) over a medium heat. Heat until warm then add the honey and stir through until dissolved. Take the pan off the heat.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl for 2-3 minutes until thicker and paler.
- Pour the warm milk onto the yolks, whisking continuously. Pour the custard mix back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
- Take the pan off the heat. Grind the salt in a pestle and mortar until fine. Tip into the custard and mix well
- Pour the custard into a bowl or jug, cover with clingfilm (to stop a skin forming) and cool. Once cold, transfer to the fridge to chill overnight (or for at least 4 hours)
- When ready to churn remove the clingfilm, pour in the cream and stir until thoroughly combined. Follow the instructions below to churn your ice cream either a machine (go to step 7) or doing it by hand (go to step 9).
Churning the ice cream using a machine
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Serve immediately or transfer the ice cream into a freezer-proof container, cover the surface directly with greaseproof paper or foil and store in the freezer. (It should be scoopable straight from the freezer - unless your freezer is exceptionally cold).
Churning the ice cream by hand
- Pour the ice cream into a suitable freezer-proof bowl, cover and put it in the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours. The sides should be beginning to freeze, but the centre will be soft and slushy.
- Remove from the freezer and, working quickly, use electric beaters to beat the ice cream until the ice crystals are uniform. Cover and place back in the freezer.
- Repeat this process 5-7 more times at 1 hour intervals - the better the texture will be the more the process is repeated.
- Cover the ice cream with greaseproof paper or foil and freeze for a further 3 hours or overnight.
- Serve straight from the freezer.
Expert tips
Top Tip: When making any homemade ice cream always ensure both the churning bowl of your ice cream maker and the custard base are sufficiently frozen/ chilled before churning begins.
- If churning your honey ice cream by hand make the custard base and let it chill overnight before starting the churning process the next morning. This leaves plenty of time to fit in 6-8 churns with electric beaters.
- And if churning by hand, set a timer between each churn to ensure it is not left too long between each churn otherwise, ice crystals will form.
- Putting the ice cream into a chilled container rather than one at room temperature means the ice cream will melt less at the point of transfer.
- Eat within 2 weeks to enjoy this ice cream with honey and salt at its prime. It's still safe to eat after this time but the flavour and texture may begin to deteriorate.
Frequently asked questions
Any! I like to use runny honey, but set honey can also be used. Popular choices include clover honey, acacia honey, lavender honey and orange blossom honey. They all have their own distinctive flavour, so whatever honey you use will impart that flavour into your ice cream.
Honey - classified as liquid sugar - does several things to ice cream:
1. It gives a little extra body and creaminess to the ice cream.
2. It also lowers the freezing point of ice cream, so the mix doesn't freeze rock solid. That's why it is scoopable straight from the freezer.
Yes, you can. To do this reduce the honey (try 125g). As honey helps create that magical soft & scoopable consistency, be mindful that using less honey will result in a firmer ice cream.
Yes, you can. It will be a delicious honey ice cream, still as soft & scoopable as the salted version and just as sweetly mellow.
Yes, provided your ice cream maker can handle the extra volume (find out firstas if you add too much liquid to it then it will not freeze properly).
Serving suggestions
Although this ice cream is a delight to eat on its own, I can recommend the following:
- Serve it alongside fresh strawberries - the honey-salt-strawberry combination is magical
- Go a step further and pile those strawberries and the ice cream on top of Muscovado Meringues or onto English-style pancakes.
- Pair it with a warm chocolate brownie.
- Use it as a float on rich honey hot chocolate.
More ice cream recipes
Should salted honey not be your bag, then take a look at the rest of my ice cream recipes for alternative inspiration. Here are a few options:
Have you made this recipe for ice cream with honey & sea salt? Please take a moment to leave a review to let me know how you got along with the recipe.
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📖 Recipe
Salted Honey Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 150 g Honey
- 250 ml Whole milk
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 5 Egg yolks large, free-range
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Sea salt flakes
- 250 ml Double cream heavy cream
Instructions
- Put the milk and vanilla bean paste into a medium-sized pan (heavy-based) over a medium heat. Heat until warm.
- Add the honey a stir through until dissolved. Take off the heat.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl for 2-3 minutes until thicker and paler.
- Pour the warm milk onto the yolks, whisking continuously.
- Pour the custard mix back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Take off the heat.
- Grind the salt in a pestle and mortar until fine. Tip into the custard and mix well.
- Pour the custard into a bowl or jug, cover directly with clingfilm (to stop a skin forming) and cool. Once cold, transfer to the fridge to chill overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
- When ready to churn remove the clingfilm, pour in the cream and stir until thoroughly combined.
Making the ice cream using an ice cream maker
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Serve immediately or transfer the ice cream into a freezer-proof container, cover the surface directly with greaseproof paper or foil and store in the freezer. (It should be scoopable straight from the freezer - unless your freezer is exceptionally cold).
Making the ice cream by hand
- .Pour the ice cream into a suitable freezer-proof bowl, cover and put it in the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours. The sides should be beginning to freeze, but the centre will be soft and slushy.
- Remove from the freezer and, working quickly, use electric beaters to beat the ice cream until the ice crystals are uniform. Cover and place back in the freezer.
- Repeat this process 4-8 more times at 1 hour intervals - the better the texture will be the more the process is repeated.
- Cover the ice cream with greaseproof paper or foil and freeze for a further 3 hours or overnight.
- Serve straight from the freezer.
Notes
- Ensure both the churning bowl of your ice cream maker and the custard base are sufficiently frozen/ chilled before churning begins.
- If churning your honey ice cream by hand it's best to make the custard base and let it chill overnight before starting the churning process the next morning. This leaves plenty of time to fit in 6-8 churns with electric beaters.
- And if churning by hand, set a timer between each churn to ensure it is not left too long between each churn otherwise ice crystals will form.
- Putting the ice cream into a chilled container rather than one at room temperature means the ice cream will melt less at the point of transfer.
- Cover the top of the ice cream with parchment to help stop ice crystals from forming in the freezer.
- Eat within 2 weeks to enjoy this ice cream with honey and salt at its prime. It's still safe to eat after this time but the flavour and texture may begin to deteriorate.
Christine Beveridge says
All I can say is, "Yum!". Reminiscent of salted caramel ice cream, but much easier to make. Used honey from our native red gum trees. Will be a keeper . It's in the freezer for Christmas here in Australia, where we need ice cream at this time of the year. Thanks for the recipe.
Jane Saunders says
Ah Christine thankyou so much for your comment - so pleased you have this lined up for Christmas and the sunshine!
Jennifer Fashian says
THE BEST. Seriously this is the best ice cream we have ever made at home!!!
My daughter was looking for a "healthy" ice cream recipe and due to the honey ran across this recipe. She made the "mistake" of making it during our church home group at our house and suddenly we were having to share spoonfuls with everyone who then wanted to make sure we shared this recipe. It is rich, smooth, creamy and came out of our ice cream maker the perfect consistency as opposed to most recipes which come out like soft serve. I don't know if we'll ever make another recipe again, although I'm a chocolate fan so need to figure out how to make this a rich chocolate flavor.
Jane Saunders says
Ah Jennifer, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. It's still my favourite ice cream several years on. In fact, I've been toying with the idea of doing a chocolate version recently too - just had my ice cream maker out of action recently, but I'm good to go again now, so watch this space!
Jessica says
Thoughts on just using sheep’s milk in lieu of whole milk and heavy cream?
Jane Saunders says
Oh now there's a good question. Honestly, I have not tasted sheeps milk at all. I've just googled to see if there are any recipes out there for sheeps milk ice cream - there are a few that include S.M. yoghurt too - I guess as a substitute for the cream to try to replicate that indulgent taste?? I honestly can't say for sure whether this recipe would/ would not work with sheep's milk as I've only tried it with regular cows milk. Maybe make a half batch to test? If you do give it a go, I'd be interested to hear how you get along.
Laura says
Hey Jane,
thanks for your recipe!!! When do I have to put the double cream in the mix?
Best regards
Laura
Jane Saunders says
Hi Laura, thanks for getting in touch. Add the cream in step 9- just before the mixture goes into the ice cream churner. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
Jessica Millund says
I had chopped walnuts left over and wanted to make a baklava-style icecream but couldn't find any recipes that didn't require way more time than I felt like investing. I found your recipe and it sounded delicious! I quick candied the walnuts first and set them aside to cool. I have to do dairy free so I substituted a coconut whipping cream and half n half and added some cinnamon to the custard. I swirled in the nuts before freezing it. Sadly, I halved the recipe because it is AMAZING! I seriously plan on making this again. Thanks!
Jane Saunders says
Jessica, thankyou so much for letting me know how you got along. I'm pleased it still tasted amazing without the dairy. Oh and honey and nuts, don't get me started on what a great combination that is 😉
Jake says
How much ice cream does this make? Can it simply be doubled or do you have to make ratio adjustments. Looking to feed 14 people.
Thank you!
Jane Saunders says
Hi Jake - this recipe makes enough to feed 6 people generously. I see no harm in simply doubling the recipe - just ensure your ice cream churner can handle the amount of liquid you pour into it and won't leave you with half churned ice cream.
darcy says
I'm just making a similar version of this, but I smoked the honey on my Traeger smoker grill first. Thanks for the recipe and great blog.
Jane Saunders says
Oh nice. That sounds good.
Karen Olbinson says
Omg Jane, I made this ice-cream last week and is just out of this world . I've never know such an intense flavour and I love honey , so happy days ?
Jane Saunders says
Karen. Just like that you have made my day (week). Thankyou so much for letting me know you enjoyed my recipe. It really does mean alot.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
I would never have thought to use honey instead of sugar. Awesome since I really don't like trying to scoop a "brick of ice cream"....that is just too much effort. Ice cream should be creamy, and start to melt as soon as you scoop...then you know you have the real deal!!
Jane Saunders says
Thanks Gloria. I'm too impatient for ice cream to soften - I have been known to take a knife to it at times :). This one is still firm, not soft set - that is not my idea of ice cream heaven - just right for sinking a spoon into.
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Wow this sounds amazing!! I need to get an ice cream maker!
Jane Saunders says
Thanks Sam. Hurry up and get one - although you can make it the old fashioned way until you do.