Here’s another super-delicious variation on my 4-Ingredient White Chocolate Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream post, just like I promised. And this Dark Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream is even easier to make. You don’t have cook anything: you just whip all the ice cream ingredients together, transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container, add the sugar-free raspberry jam, and just freeze. That’s it: No ice cream maker needed! Then, after a few hours, you’ve got a seriously scrumptious low-carb keto ice cream.
P.S. For the instant satisfaction to your sweet tooth, check the tip in the end of this post!
Tips for making the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream
I wanted to keep the title slightly shorter than the white chocolate variation: “4-Ingredient White Chocolate Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream or Popsicles” is a real monster of a name! This ice cream is also easier to make than its white-chocolate sister: plus, it has fewer carbs because it uses raspberries, which have a really low carb count. So here’s how to do it!
Just take the cream cheese…
…cocoa powder…
…sweetener…
…and a tiny pinch of salt (not essential but highly recommended!) and beat them well together for a few minutes…
…so that you get a fluffy mixture.
Oops! Forgot the salt! Let’s add it now.
Add the heavy cream and beat until thick…
…until the mixture reaches the same consistency as heavy cream whipped into soft peaks.
Pour into a freezer-safe container.
Like this.
Add the raspberry jam…
…like this…
…and make a few beautiful swirls in the cream mixture so that there’ll be raspberry jam in every spoonful.
Close the lid tightly and freeze, preferably overnight, or at least 6 hours. Let the ice cream stand at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before scooping and serving.
It’s that simple, and so delicious!
My dark chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream experiments
When I was creating the White Chocolate Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream recipe, I thought about creating a dark chocolate version. At first, my white chocolate version contained raspberry jam, but then I realized that strawberry jam would work better with white chocolate, while raspberry jam matched well with dark chocolate.
For the dark chocolate version, I wanted to make life easier by using cocoa powder rather than dark chocolate. As with the white chocolate ice cream recipe, you’d need to melt the dark chocolate with the cream and then let it cool down for several hours, adding extra time to the process. Using cocoa powder speeds things up; you don’t have to melt anything and wait for it to cool before you can proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Having decided that, I started to ponder the ingredients. I needed cocoa powder and cream cheese for sure. But I’d also need heavy cream to make the consistency right; with cream cheese and cocoa powder alone the mixture would be far too stiff. First, I planned to add whipped cream, but then I realized it would be difficult to combine with the stiff mixture of cream cheese and cocoa powder. Besides, the consistency would be still too stiff. But what about adding the heavy cream directly to the beaten cream cheese and cocoa powder mixture and then beat it until thick? That should do the trick.
As for sweeteners: My white chocolate ice cream version uses white chocolate, which is very sweet. Since I decided to use cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate here, I needed to add sweetness to the mix. Powdered erythritol would be the best option, I thought. Stevia would lend it too much of an aftertaste, and erythritol crystals wouldn’t even dissolve. (By the way, chewing erythritol crystals in a dessert is one of the most disgusting things ever. That sandy, crackling feeling is incredibly unappetizing!)
So, now I had cocoa powder, cream cheese, heavy cream, and powdered erythritol. The fifth ingredient was sugar-free raspberry jam: I’d add it to the ready-made mixture and make beautiful swirls in it. Unlike the white chocolate version, in this case I’d add the jam to the ice cream mixture after pouring it into the freezer-safe container, not before. The swirls would be so much prettier that way.
The measurements for the ingredients were pretty straightforward, but deciding on the amount of cocoa powder took some time. I wanted it to taste chocolaty enough without being overpowering. 1/4 cup (60 ml) felt just right, and it turned out to be the ideal amount for my chocoholic taste buds.
Oh yes, and as always for desserts — especially for chocolate desserts! — I added a pinch of unrefined sea salt. It makes any chocolate dessert taste sinful!
Aaand finally, here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
- 10 oz = 280 g cream cheese
- 1/4 cup = 60 ml cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup = 160 ml powdered erythritol (like Confectioner's Style Swerve)
- 2/3 cup = 160 ml heavy cream
- 2/3 cup = 160 ml homemade or commercial sugar-free raspberry jam
- (Optional but highly recommended: pinch unrefined sea salt or Himalayan salt)
- Combine the cream cheese, cocoa powder and the sweetener in a deep and narrow bowl.
- Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container with a tight-fitting lid.
- Add the raspberry jam and carefully make a couple of large swirls with a fork.
- Close the lid tightly and freeze overnight or until solid.
- Let the ice cream stand at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before serving.
| Nutrition information | Protein | Fat | Net carbs | kcal |
| In total: | 26.9 g | 129.2 g | 24.0 g | 1391 kcal |
| Per serving if 4 servings in total: | 6.7 g | 32.3 g | 6.0 g | 348 kcal |
| Per serving if 6 servings in total: | 4.5 g | 21.5 g | 4.0 g | 232 kcal |
Tips for variations
My personal favorite variation is to add grated dark chocolate to the ice cream mixture before pouring it into the freezer-proof container. I just stir 1/2 cup (120 ml) grated dark chocolate into the mixture and combine well. Then I proceed according to the instructions—so, I pour the mixture into the freezer-proof container, add the raspberry jam, and make a couple of swirls. The grated dark chocolate adds a delicious crunch to the ice cream!
For an adults-only version, you can add a dash of rum to improve the taste and the texture: Alcohol helps ice cream stay soft in the freezer so that it doesn’t get rock hard. If you’re making it for kids, you can enhance the raspberry taste with raspberry flavoring—or, you can experiment with different natural flavorings of your choice.
If you want to get really experimental, you can replace part of the powdered erythritol with flavored liquid stevia. Try, for example chocolate raspberry stevia, dark chocolate stevia, berry stevia, vanilla stevia, English toffee stevia, or cherry vanilla stevia.
You can make popsicles from the ice cream mixture, too, of course. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for that this time around, but I’m definitely going to make them during the summer (especially when I have those cute umbrella popsicle molds)!
Got an aching sweet tooth and want INSTANT relief? No problem! Serve this chocoholic’s dream as a delicious, velvety mousse—no freezing necessary!
Thank you for your recipes. I am going to try both desserts. Both look delicious. Always eat in moderation. and you will be fine.
You’re welcome! Hope you like them 🙂
Made it for today…..absolute hit with children….hubby loved it too….for me it was a tiny bit sweet….but I’m pretty sure family didn’t mind it 😉 definitely going to make it many times from now on 😀
Wonderful! 🙂
Just put my first double batch in the freezer. The batter wasn’t chocolate enough for me so I doubled the cocoa powder. I used strawberry preserves rather than raspberry in half the batch. Then I made individual servings with whatever I could find in the kitchen! A double batch with peppermint flavoring, one with a tablespoon or so of peanut butter, one with a frozen banana sliced thin & stirred in. I can’t wait to try each flavor. The “mousse” was delicious. If it’s any better frozen I won’t be able to stand it! My mixer was struggling with this thick batter, wonder how it would do in the food processor?
Hi Cindy, thanks for trying out the recipe! I think the mousse is also my favorite… I guess food processor should work equally well. Please let me know which of the variations was your favorite!
They were all good but they think chocolate & banana was my fav, which surprised me cause usually I’m a chocolate mint girl!
Choc & banana never fails!
I’m curious how you calculated 6 net carbs for each of 4 servings? I calculate 5 for the cream cheese, 21 for the cocoa powder, 16 for the Splenda, 4 for the heavy cream, and 20 for the jam, for a total of 62 grams, or approx 15 grams per serving.
Umm… maybe because I really calculated NET carbs? And used ingredients that are lowest in carbs. Cocoa powder has hardly any carbs if you choose unsweetened dark cocoa powder. Mine has 8.7 grams net carbs in 100 g (3.5 oz), but I think Hershey’s cocoa powder has close to zero carbs. And I don’t use Splenda (I don’t recommend it to anybody since it’s an artificial sweetener!). Swerve is zero-carb and much more natural sweetener.
Putting aside the unnecessarily snarky tone of your reply, I went back and double-checked my numbers, and I had accidentally used the carbs in a full cup of cocoa powder, so now I come up with 9 g per serving. Erythritol has 5 g net carbs per 100 g, but as I said I used Splenda so that accounts for the difference.
Wow, Saralynn, Elviira is so graciously giving us free recipes and you give her a hard time…what is a matter with you…shameful
Could you use splenda in this?
Hi Deb, sure, but I don’t recommend artificial sweeteners.
Looks delish, I wonder could I use Pyure sweetener instead. I have a blogging question, when you view your own blog, can you see the Amazon ads?
Hi Kim, thank you! Yes, I can see the Amazon ads.