Japanese Tempura Ice Cream Recipe

You must have heard of fried ice cream that combines an external crispy cake with an inner cold ice cream center. A cold and hot ball of sweetness. It’s called tempura ice cream. Continue reading to learn how to make this recipe at home within a few minutes.

Tempura ice cream is a popular dessert in Japan, and now in the West as well. It’s made by wrapping a ball of ice cream in bread, or pound cake. The wrapped ice cream is then coated in a tempura batter and deep-fried in oil.

The end result is a rich and creamy combination of ice cream and crispy fried bread/ cake that is perfection on a plate.

Although its origins are not clearly known, it is said to have been a part of Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Mexicans use more ingredients in the dish by adding cornflakes, and cereal to the tempura batter and coating it to make it more crispy.

The most popular version that is mostly found in restaurants is Japanese tempura ice cream. It uses breadcrumbs to make the ice cream balls more crispy and comes with different flavors like matcha green tea, miso, and even wasabi.

This recipe will yield four servings, and if you are expecting more people, you can always increase the ingredients. You can also freeze them for over a month to cook later on.

Key Ingredients

• 2 pt ice cream (I’m using chocolate flavor)
• 1 egg
• 11 oz pound cake, 2 loaves
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• Oil for deep frying

Chef Notes

• You can substitute cake with white bread, or sponge cake. I prefer using regular vanilla cake as it’s sweeter, but if you want less sweet, you can use white bread slices.
• Flattening the bread or cake is essential as it makes sure that it doesn’t absorb too much egg.
• Make sure not to fry tempura for too long as it will lead to the ice cream melting and leaking from the cake. Therefore, make sure to add the tempura ice cream into the oil when it’s hot and ready to cook.

Popular Fried Tempura Ice Cream Flavors

Fried Tempura Ice Cream is a popular delicacy in Japan that comes in various flavors mainly vanilla and chocolate. I have tried matcha green tea and chocolate flavors myself, but if you are craving something else, here are some popular flavors of ice cream you can use in this recipe:

• Matcha green tea
• Vanilla
• Banana
• Chocolate
• Kabuki
• Red bean
• Strawberry
• Caramel and walnuts
• Oreo
• Mochi

How do you fry ice cream without it melting?

To prevent ice cream from melting, heat oil in a pan and bring it to 375F or 170C. Now place the ice cream balls in the oil and fry for no more than 30-40 seconds. It will give the balls a golden crispy texture from the outside, while the ice cream is cold on the inside.

Here are some other recipes to try out:

• Sweet cream pancakes
• No milk waffles
• Chocolate tea

Japanese Tempura Ice Cream Recipe

Tempura ice cream is a popular dessert in Japan, and now in the West as well. It’s made by wrapping a ball of ice cream in bread, or pound cake.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 pt ice cream I’m using chocolate flavor
• 1 egg
• 11 oz pound cake 2 loaves
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

 

• Take pound cake slices and trim the crust. Now flatten the cake using a wooden roller.
• Layout the cling film on the kitchen countertop, and place the bread in the middle.
• Scoop the ice cream in the middle.
• Fold the edges of the cake slice on top of the ice cream, and cover it with another slice of cake on top. Cover all the gaps.
• Use cling film to tightly wrap the slices of cake to form a round shape. You can also use a rubber band to seal it.
• Freeze them for at least an hour.
• Take a small bowl and add flour. Beat egg in another bowl, and take a small plate to spread panko breadcrumbs.
• Take out the wrapped ice cream from the freezer, and remove the cling wrap.
• Dip them into flour, then egg, and finally coat them in breadcrumbs. Ensure the crumbs are sticking in generous amounts to get crispy tempura ice cream.
• Freeze them for at least 4-5 hours before cooking.
• When they are firm and ready to cook, heat up the oil in a deep pan and deep fry them for 1 minute, or until golden brown.
• Place the tempura ice cream on a serving plate, garnish with coconut sugar, or chocolate sauce and serve.

Notes

• You can substitute cake with white bread, or sponge cake. I prefer using regular vanilla cake as it’s sweeter, but if you want less sweet, you can use white bread slices.
• Flattening the bread or cake is essential as it makes sure that it doesn’t absorb too much egg.
• Make sure not to fry tempura for too long as it will lead to the ice cream melting and leaking from the cake. Therefore, make sure to add the tempura ice cream into the oil when it’s hot and ready to cook.

Keyword fried ice cream, japanese tempura ice cream, tempura ice cream

Nutrition Facts