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The best Danish summer dessert
There’s nothing quite like Danish summer, and given that both of us are in Denmark this July, we thought it was perfect timing to share a recipe that’s based on the best summer dessert of all time. But it’s not just a dessert – this can be your dinner on a warm Danish summer evening, or an afternoon snack, or even breakfast (it’s kind of like cereal, in a way). After a nice day on the beach, or going for a walk in the woods, there’s nothing that quite compares to this. In case you haven’t guessed yet, it’s a classic Danish summer dish, known as koldskål, or “cold bowl”. But that’s not a very descriptive translation, so we like to call it a buttermilk soup or buttermilk dessert. All you need to know for now is that it’s the epitome of Danish summer!
What is koldskål?
Buttermilk soup might not really sound all that appealing. However, any Dane will tell you that koldskål is one of the most delicious things on the planet. That’s because it’s cold, a little bit sweet, with vanilla and lemon flavors that make it so refreshing. It’s typically eaten with a very crunchy cookie called kammerjunkere, so really, it’s just like a buttermilk cereal. You can also add fresh fruit, especially strawberries, which are in season in Denmark in June and July and are truly unbelievably sweet, juicy, and delicious. You can find our recipe for koldskål and kammerjunkere here if you’d like to give it a try.
Refreshing and bright
Now, today’s recipe takes koldskål to another level. That’s because it’s koldskål ice cream! So take everything you love about the classic dessert, and turn it into an even more refreshing ice cream. We have been so into making ice cream this summer – if you follow us over on Substack, you’ll have seen some of our exclusive ice cream recipes. That’s because ice cream is super simple to make (if you have an ice cream machine) and is undoubtedly one of our favorite summer desserts in general. When you make it homemade, you also get to develop fun homemade combinations of flavors. Here are a few we’ve come up with in addition to this ice cream recipe: cardamom ice cream, rhubarb ice cream, raspberry ice cream (on Substack).
Ingredients and possible substitutions
For this recipe, you’ll need the following: eggs, granulated sugar, buttermilk, heavy cream, salt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Then, you’ll need vanilla cookies, or kammerjunkere if you have them, to add into the ice cream base as an add-in. You can play around with substituting other types of milk or cream, but keep in mind that the characteristic koldskål flavor comes from adding the buttermilk. Additionally, using lower-fat types of milk or cream might result in an icier and less creamy final result. Also, we would recommend getting full-fat buttermilk, not making your own by adding acid to regular milk. That works well for some baking recipes, but this is all about the buttermilk flavor. For the cookie add-in, we added Nilla wafers, but you can easily add in any type of vanilla cookies you can find.
How to make koldskål ice cream
This is a custard-based ice cream. So, you start by heating up the buttermilk, heavy cream, salt, and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest to a bowl and mix together. Temper the eggs by slowly streaming in the warm milk mixture. Then, cook the custard until it reaches 170 F (76 C), or it coats the back of a spoon when you dip it into the custard. Pour this into a bowl and let it fully cool in the fridge. Then, add it to your frozen ice cream maker and churn. Once it’s thick, layer it into a container with the vanilla cookies crushed up in between layers. Freeze for a few hours until solid, then scoop and enjoy! This ice cream is so delicious and refreshing, so we hope you give it a try.
Koldskål Ice Cream
This koldskål ice cream tastes just like Danish summer, with that classic buttermilk flavor and crunchy vanilla cookies layered in!
Ingredients
CUSTARD:
- 300 ml full fat or whole buttermilk
- 360 ml heavy cream
- 175 grams granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (if you don't have vanilla bean paste, you can use 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract instead)
- Lemon zest from 1 large lemon
MIX INS:
- 70 grams crushed vanilla cookies, like Nilla wafers
Instructions
- If using an ice cream machine, make sure you are following the machine instructions and freezing the cooling bowl for at least 12 hours before preparing your ice cream! The bowl has to be completely frozen for the ice cream to properly churn.
- Making the custard should be done a few hours ahead of churning the ice cream! Mix heavy cream, buttermilk, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan.
- Whisk egg yolks, the whole egg, vanilla paste/vanilla extract, and lemon zest together in a separate heatproof bowl.
- Heat up the buttermilk & cream mixture until you see small bubbles forming along the edge. Make sure not to overheat! We recommend keeping this on low/medium-low heat.
- Slowly stream half of the buttermilk mixture into the eggs to temper the eggs, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the buttermilk mixture, still whisking. Heat this over medium to low heat until it for a few minutes, whisking the whole time to avoid scrambling the eggs.
- Once the mixture coats the back of a spoon and you can run a finger across the spoon and it leaves a trail, the custard is thickened, and it's ready. You can also check the temperature of the custard – once it reaches 170 degrees F (76 C), it is ready! Try not to overheat the mixture as it could scramble the eggs and make for a strange texture.
- Strain the custard into a bowl. We like to strain it just in case there are any lumps!
- Cover with plastic wrap that touches the surface of the custard to avoid a skin forming, and refrigerate until cold. It's very important that it's fridge-cold, so that it doesn't thaw out the ice cream bowl too quickly.
- When the custard is totally cooled down (fridge temperature!), start your ice cream machine and add the custard mixture to the cooling bowl (follow your machine instructions).
- Our ice cream takes about 25-30 minutes to churn to soft-serve consistency, which is what our machine instructions indicate.
- Get a freezer-safe container ready (we use a container with a 4-5 cup capacity!)
- Crush up Nilla wafers (or other store bought vanilla cookie) into a bowl. We like a good mix of small and large chunks. We used about 70 grams of cookies, but you can add as many or as few as you would like.
- Add about half of the soft serve custard to the bottom of the container; then sprinkle over half of the cookies. Run a knife through the ice cream to mix the cookies in slightly.
- Add the rest of the custard, then the rest of the cookies, optionally leaving a small amount of cookie crumbs for decorating the top of the ice cream.
- Use a knife to mix the cookies into that layer. Top with the remaining cookie bits on top.
- Transfer to the freezer.
- Let the ice cream harden for at least another couple of hours before scooping – best if left overnight, but it will taste just fine if you eat it earlier, it will just be a bit on the softer side. Enjoy!
Tip: if you're in a rush or the custard isn't fully cooled by the time you'd like to churn the ice cream, you can add ice to a large bowl with some water, place a smaller bowl in the ice water, and add the custard to the smaller bowl. Leave for a few minutes, then stir well, and continue to stir every few minutes until the custard has cooled down fully.
