Mr. Softee-Style Vanilla Bean Soft-Serve Recipe

How to beat Mister Softee at his own soft-serve game.

Updated October 20, 2023

Two homemade chocolate-dipped soft-serve vanilla bean ice cream cones against a blue gingham napkin, a bite taken out of one. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

Half-and-half fortified with cornstarch and gelatin makes for an ice cream that'll hold its form when soft and on the verge of melting.

New Yorkers can debate all they want about who makes the city's best ice cream, but we all know the answer is really Mister Softee.

Mister Softee (and his knockoff siblings Master Softee and Captain Softee) does not truck in dalliances like chorizo-uni ice cream served in kale-chip cones. Mister Softee doesn't trade in trends of any kind. He's above fashion. And before you even think about how much you want an ice cream cone, he's right there on the corner waiting for your craving to catch up with you.

Lest you go off on a rant about how Mister Softee's how-is-this-not-melting soft serve isn't "real" ice cream, consider this article about the company in the New York Times:

It passes the legal definition of ice cream, which cannot be said of soft serve from Dairy Queen and McDonald's, which sell "ice milk." Mister Softee ingredients include milk, cream, cane sugar, corn syrup, nonfat milk, whey, mono- and diglycerides, cellulose gum, as well as natural and artificial flavorings.

That's right—Mister Softee is totally real ice cream, and its ingredients are pretty straightforward: milk, cream, sugar, and some stabilizers that are quite common in the ice cream industry.

Close-up of homemade soft-serve vanilla bean ice cream piled into a parfait glass. — Serious Eats / Max Falkowitz

And here's the thing—with a little fiddling, you can make your very own Mister Softee ice cream at home. The key is a not-too-fatty milk-and-cream base fortified with cornstarch and a little gelatin, for an ice cream that'll hold its form when soft and on the verge of melting, just like the real Mister Softee. And with this home recipe, you can freeze and thaw your soft serve again and again with no loss in quality.

Close-up shot of soft-serve vanilla bean ice cream being mixed inside a freezing core attached to a mixer. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

To start, churn up a fresh batch of your Mister Softee ice cream. The base will wobble and shimmy a little like jello.

Scraping soft-churned ice cream from the paddle of an ice cream freezing core. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Churn the ice cream until it's light and fluffy, and a spoon spread across it leaves a stable swoop. Then transfer it to a container and let it chill for an hour in the freezer.

Swirls of soft-serve vanilla bean ice cream piled on a wafer ice cream cone. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Only a wafer cone will do for a proper Mister Softee scoop. (For bonus points, line the bottom of the cone with chocolate dip a la the King Cone.)

As for the Mister Softee swirl, that's hard to get without some pretty specialized equipment. Instead, I prefer to mound the ice cream on top of the cone with a wide spoon, slowly sculpting it into a swirl-like tower.

Hand dipping the top of a soft-serve ice cream cone into a plastic container of melted chocolate coating. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

As soon as your scoop is done, dip it into your waiting chocolate dip in one fast motion.

Hand rotating ice cream cone to let excess chocolate coating drip off. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Rotate it above the dip so excess can drip away.

Chocolate coating hardening on a soft-serve ice cream cone — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

And let the dip harden completely before biting in. It'll go from glossy to fudgy-looking to completely matte.

Then take a big bite.

Watch out, Mister Softee. We're coming for you.

February 2012

Recipe Details

Mr. Softee-Style Vanilla Bean Soft-Serve Recipe

Prep 5 mins

Cook 10 mins

Active 30 mins

Churning/Freezing Time 5 hrs 30 mins

Total 5 hrs 45 mins

Serves 6 to 8 servings

Makes 1 quart

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups half-and-half, divided
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped (see note)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Scotch whisky

Directions

Pour about 1/4 cup half-and-half in one small bowl and 2 tablespoons in another. Use a fork to whisk cornstarch into the first bowl until no lumps remain, and sprinkle gelatin in second bowl. Add remaining half and half to a saucepan along with vanilla bean, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat, cover, and let steep for one hour.
Remove vanilla bean (reserving for another use) and whisk in cornstarch slurry. Heat dairy on medium heat, whisking frequently, until a custard forms and a swiped finger leaves a clean line. Turn off heat, taste for seasoning, then stir in Scotch and gelatin mixture. Whisk until gelatin fully dissolves. Transfer to an airtight container to chill, 4 hours to overnight. The custard will set into a wobbly gel.
Churn in an ice cream maker until ice cream has the texture of soft serve and is not at all runny. Eat immediately, or chill in freezer in an airtight container. To regain soft serve texture, let ice cream thaw to the verge of melting after freezing.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Special Equipment

Ice cream machine

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
220	Calories
11g	Fat
27g	Carbs
4g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories	220
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g	14%
Saturated Fat 7g	37%
Cholesterol 37mg	12%
Sodium 184mg	8%
Total Carbohydrate 27g	10%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 23g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 1mg	5%
Calcium 114mg	9%
Iron 0mg	0%
Potassium 140mg	3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.