Homemade matcha ice cream: two no-churn recipes that never fail

My relationship with home ice cream makers lasted exactly one summer. I bought one full of enthusiasm, made three batches, and it has lived in the top cupboard ever since, alongside the novelty cupcake moulds and the yoghurt maker. If you have one and use it, respect. For the rest of humanity, these two matcha ice cream recipes need no machine, work first time, and one of them doesn't even contain dairy.

Matcha ice cream (or green tea ice cream, as half the world's menus call it) is one of those flavours you always order at an Asian restaurant and never make at home because it seems complicated. It isn't. All it needs is a decent matcha and a little care over two or three details.

Recipe 1: the creamy classic (cream and condensed milk)

The trick with no-churn ice cream is condensed milk: its sugar stops large ice crystals from forming, which is exactly what the machine does by churning. Everyday kitchen chemistry in the service of dessert.

Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):

• 500 ml well-chilled whipping cream (at least 35% fat)
• 370-400 g condensed milk (one small tin)
• 12-15 g culinary matcha (4-5 heaped teaspoons)
• A pinch of salt (trust me)

Step by step:

1. Dissolve the matcha in 3-4 tablespoons of the condensed milk until you have a smooth green paste with no lumps. Sift it first if your tin has been open for a while. This step is 80% of the success: matcha lumps in ice cream never dissolve, they just sit there like tiny bitter landmines.
2. Mix that paste with the rest of the condensed milk and the pinch of salt.
3. Whip the cold cream to soft peaks. There's no need to reach stiff peaks: overwhipping gives a buttery texture.
4. Fold the green mixture into the cream gently, without rushing, until the colour is even. That pastel green already hints at what's coming.
5. Pour into a loaf tin or a plastic tub, cover with cling film touching the surface and freeze for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.
6. Take it out 10 minutes before serving. Perfect scoops, zero crystals.

Recipe 2: the vegan one with two ingredients (and a half)

The famous banana "nice cream", matcha edition. Lighter, with no added sugar required, and ready in five minutes if the bananas are already frozen.

Ingredients (2-3 servings):

• 3 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen (at least 4 hours)
• 6-8 g culinary matcha (2-3 teaspoons)
• 60-80 ml coconut or oat drink
• Optional: 1 tablespoon of syrup if your bananas weren't very ripe

Step by step:

1. Blitz the frozen bananas in a food processor or a powerful blender. First they'll turn to crumbs, then to sand, and suddenly, to cream. Be patient and scrape down the sides a couple of times.
2. Add the matcha (dissolved first in the plant drink to avoid lumps) and blitz for another 20 seconds.
3. Eat it straight away, soft-serve style, or freeze for an hour if you want proper scoops.

You can taste the banana, no point pretending otherwise. But the banana-matcha-coconut combination works so well that at home this version is more popular than the classic. And it's the perfect excuse for those bananas in the fruit bowl that nobody is planning to eat.

Which matcha to use for ice cream (and why you don't need ceremonial)

Here's one of the few times you'll hear us say this: for ice cream, don't waste your ceremonial. In a recipe with cream, condensed milk or banana, the subtle notes of a first grade get buried; what you need is a matcha with strong colour and a firm flavour that stands up to the cold, because freezing, just like ice, dulls flavours.

That is exactly the job of culinary matcha: a grade designed for cooking, with enough character for your ice cream to taste of matcha rather than "mysterious green dessert", and at a price that lets you use the 12-15 grams the recipe calls for without wincing. Save the ceremonial for the latte you'll sip while you wait for the ice cream to freeze.

A note on colour, quite literally: if your ice cream comes out a dull army green instead of a vivid green, the problem is the matcha, not you. Poor-quality matchas oxidise and turn brownish. Ours is certified organic and comes from Jingshan (China), stone-ground, and the green you see when you turn the ice cream out says it all.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make matcha ice cream without an ice cream maker? Yes, with the whipped cream and condensed milk method: the condensed milk prevents ice crystals and the result is creamy without any churning. The frozen banana version doesn't need a machine either.

How much matcha goes into the ice cream? Between 12 and 15 grams per half litre of cream in the classic recipe, and 6-8 grams in the banana version. Any less and the flavour disappears in the cold.

Matcha ice cream or green tea ice cream, is it the same thing? On most menus, yes: the "green tea ice cream" served in Asian restaurants is made with matcha. The name changes, the green powder is the same.

Can I use ceremonial matcha for ice cream? You can, but you'll be throwing away nuance: the cold and the other ingredients mask what makes a first grade special. Culinary matcha is designed precisely for this.

How long does homemade ice cream keep in the freezer? It's at its best for one to two weeks, well covered. After that it's still safe, but it gradually loses its creaminess and the matcha loses the vibrancy of its colour and flavour.