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Cotton Candy Ice Cream with Pink and Blue Swirls

Cotton candy ice cream with vivid pink and blue swirls made from a cooked custard base. Churned for a creamy frozen texture and finished with a fluffy cotton candy topping for classic carnival flavor.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing (rest) 4 hours 20 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cotton candy ice cream base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp cotton candy flavoring or extract
  • 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 0.01 pink and blue food coloring Use as needed to reach the shade you want.
  • 1 cotton candy for topping

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer
  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Make the custard
  1. Heat the heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan until steaming, not boiling, about 3–5 minutes, and keep the surface gently steaming. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl until smooth.
  2. Slowly whisk the steaming cream mixture into the egg yolks in a thin stream, and the mixture should become glossy and slightly thick.
  3. Return everything to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches 175°F, about 5–7 minutes, until the custard coats the back of a spoon.
  4. Strain the custard to remove any bits, and pour it into a clean bowl so it looks silky.
Flavor and color
  1. Whisk in the cotton candy flavoring (or extract), vanilla extract, and salt until evenly combined, and the custard should look smooth and uniform.
  2. Divide the custard into two bowls and stir in pink and blue food coloring to one bowl, and leave the other bowl its contrasting color until both are clearly tinted.
Chill and churn for swirls
  1. Chill both custards completely in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, until cold to the touch, and no surface warmth remains.
  2. Churn each color separately in an ice cream maker until it reaches soft-serve thickness, and keep going until the paddle leaves defined tracks.
  3. Either alternate spoonfuls of the pink and blue ice cream in the container while it firms, or layer both colors together during the freeze step for a blue-pink swirl effect, and press gently to reduce air pockets.
  4. Freeze until firm, about 4–6 hours more, until scoopable and set through.
  5. Top the ice cream with cotton candy right before serving, and add a small tuft so it stands out over the swirls.

Notes

For the smoothest custard, keep the heat low while cooking to 175°F and stir constantly so the eggs don’t scramble. Chill the custards overnight if you can for the best churn; homemade ice cream stays fresh in the freezer for 1–2 weeks. Freeze is yes, but skip adding cotton candy until serving (it dissolves). For a lighter option, swap half the heavy cream for half-and-half and expect a slightly softer texture.