Bubble Gum Ice Cream
Published June 30, 2021 • Updated March 7, 2026
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This keto bubble gum ice cream nails that classic parlor flavor with zero sugar, no eggs, and a texture that stays scoopable straight from the freezer.
This recipe exists purely because I wanted to see if I could pull it off, and because nostalgia is a powerful thing.
Bubble gum was one of those flavors that felt wildly exciting as a kid. Bright blue, a little ridiculous, and absolutely not something I expected to recreate at home without sugar. But after testing a few batches, I found you really can get that familiar parlor flavor and soft, scoopable texture without turning it into a freezer brick or something that tastes like chemicals.
I even tried simmering actual gumballs in the cream base to extract flavor. It sort of works, but the sugar content spikes and the taste is harder to control. Extract wins every time for keto. This version is egg-free, low carb, and intentionally simple. No cooking custards, no stabilizer blends, no weird aftertaste. Just a creamy base, the right extract, and a couple of small details that make all the difference. If you have tried my vanilla base, you already know the foundation I start from.
I landed on butterfly pea powder for the color because it gives a soft, natural blue without any artificial dye taste. You only need a pinch, and it does not affect the flavor at all. I have also made this in pink and even skipped the color entirely when I just wanted something quick.
The texture trick that actually works here is a small splash of vodka or white rum. I tested batches with and without, and the difference after an overnight freeze was obvious. The version with alcohol stayed soft enough to scoop right away. If you skip it, I have tested allulose syrup and sugar-free maple syrup as swaps, and both keep things from turning into a block.
If you love frozen keto treats, try my mint chocolate bars or these chocolate chip yogurt popsicles next. And if you want a totally different flavor direction, my strawberry sorbet uses a completely different base but the same scoopability tricks.
Explore hundreds of keto recipe videos with step-by-step instructions, tips, and tricks to make keto easy.
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream -
1/2 cup powdered allulose
-
1/8 teaspoon salt
-
1/2 teaspoon bubble gum flavor extract
-
1 teaspoon blue butterfly pea powder
-
2 tablespoons vodka or white rum
-
1 teaspoon sugar free sprinkles
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Make bubble gum ice cream mixture
In a large bowl, mix together heavy cream, sweetener, salt, bubble gum extract, blue butterfly pea powder, vodka or white rum with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate 2 hours.
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered allulose
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon bubble gum flavor extract
- 1 teaspoon blue butterfly pea powder
- 2 tablespoons vodka or white rum
Churn ice cream
Churn ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add sprinkles halfway through churning.
- 1 teaspoon sugar-free sprinkles
No-churn ice cream instructions
Mix ice cream mixture using an electric mixer or pulse in a blender until thickened and fluffy. Stir in sprinkles. Spoon into a freezer-safe container. Freeze until hardened.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this in a Ninja Creami?
I freeze the keto base in a Ninja Creami pint container overnight, then run two Lite cycles. The first gets it close and the second smooths out any remaining icy bits. The texture comes out between soft serve and traditional churned. One thing I noticed is the color stays more vibrant with the Creami than in my regular machine, probably because it processes faster. I add the sprinkles after the first cycle so they do not get completely pulverized.
Where do I buy butterfly pea powder?
I order mine online. I have never found it in a regular grocery store, and I have looked. It usually arrives in a day or two from a larger retailer. You only need a tiny amount (about 1/8 teaspoon per batch), so one bag lasts me months. If you cannot find it or do not want to wait, a small pinch of beet powder gives you a pink version instead.
Does the vodka make it taste like alcohol?
Not at all. I have served this to people without telling them there is vodka in it, and no one has ever noticed. The amount is small enough (1-2 tablespoons for the whole batch) that it affects texture, not flavor. The alcohol lowers the freezing point, which is the entire reason it works. White rum is my other go-to and does not come through either.
Can I add real gumballs to this?
I tried simmering actual gumballs in the cream base to extract flavor, and it sort of works, but the sugar content spikes and the flavor is less controllable than extract. If you want the look, I drop a few sugar-free gumballs on top as a garnish after scooping. They are not great mixed in because they freeze rock hard.
Can I make this dairy-free?
I have tested this with full-fat coconut cream and it works. The coconut flavor comes through a bit, so I use a touch more extract to balance it. The texture is slightly different but still creamy. My approach is to whip the coconut cream first until it thickens, then fold in the other ingredients. The no-churn method handles the swap better than churning. If you want another dairy-free treat, my jello whip is a good starting point.
Can I make this kid-friendly without the alcohol?
I make a kid-friendly version by swapping the vodka for 2 tablespoons of allulose syrup. It keeps things scoopable without any alcohol at all. My kids do not notice a difference. I also bump the sprinkles up a bit because they lose their minds over the color. The sugar-free sprinkles I use add less than 1g carb to the whole batch.
How should I store this and how long does it last?
I store mine in an airtight container with a piece of parchment pressed against the surface to prevent crystals. It lasts about 2 weeks in the freezer, but I think the texture is best within the first week. After that it starts getting a bit icier, even with the vodka.
What is the best bubble gum extract brand to use?
I will not name a specific brand because availability changes, but I look for one that smells like the flavor at a parlor, not like cough syrup. I have tested three or four, and they are not interchangeable. Some lean medicinal, some taste flat even at double the amount. My approach is to start with half the recommended dose, taste the base, then build up. Once it is mixed in, there is no fixing an over-flavored batch.
The bubble gum flavor here is more nostalgia than candy sweetness, which is why I brought it to a cookout instead of a kids' birthday. Someone who'd loudly opted out of 'kid food' ended up standing next to the cooler longer than made sense once she'd tried it. No ice cream maker, scoopable straight from the cooler in the heat, and that blue color stopped people mid-conversation. Not a summer without this now.
Cookouts are the real test. Adults who say no to the kid food are exactly who that nostalgic angle is for. And the blue gets them to the cooler before they can argue.
Got the extract right. Every other version just tastes like sweet cream.
Never made no-churn ice cream before and fully expected a sweet cream brick, so when it came out actually scoopable I checked the instructions twice, sure I messed something up. The bubble gum extract is the real deal. Kept going back for spoonfuls just to confirm it. One thing: sugar free sprinkles are nowhere at a regular grocery store, had to order them online, so don't sleep on that step. Still freaking worth it.
Doing the no-churn method but only have monk fruit. Does the allulose actually matter for keeping it scoopable?
Allulose is why it scoops straight from the freezer. Monk fruit crystallizes hard at freezer temps, so with only monk fruit you'll need to let it sit out 5-10 minutes before it's workable. The vodka helps a little too but not enough to compensate for losing the allulose.
One tip for anyone who wants that vivid blue from the parlor: double the butterfly pea powder. I used the standard teaspoon my first time and got a pretty pale lavender, which is nice but not the bold blue-purple that actually looks like something a kid would order at a scoop shop. Two teaspoons and it's dramatic. Made the no-churn version and pulsed in the blender until thick, then froze overnight, and the texture came out clean with no ice crystals and scooped perfectly straight from the freezer. Had it out on the counter for a whole pool afternoon and it held without turning to soup.
Two teaspoons. I'm going to retest and update the recipe note.
Made this Saturday after a pool day and my nine-year-old stopped mid-sentence when she saw the color coming out of the machine (the butterfly pea powder does something visually I was not prepared for). She's been asking for "the blue ice cream" every day since. Says a lot, because she barely touched the almond milk vanilla version I tried in May. The bubble gum extract landed exactly right, like the inside of those waxy little milk bottle candies from childhood, not the fake perfume-y version I was half bracing for. Subbed rum for the vodka because I had a bottle open, and three days later it's still scoopable straight from the freezer with zero counter sitting. Pool day staple all summer.
Swapped the butterfly pea powder for dragonfruit powder because I grabbed the wrong bag, and the color went full neon pink instead of that signature blue. Tastes exactly the same but looks completely different, almost like strawberry ice cream from a parlor display case. Now I'm doing half batches of each and layering them in the container. The swirl effect alone is worth it.
The pink and blue swirl is genuinely prettier than one color. Dragonfruit powder going on my list.
The butterfly pea powder gave it this wild purple-blue color that honestly looks like it came from an actual ice cream shop. Texture stayed scoopable straight from the freezer too, which I wasn't expecting from a no-churn (mine always freeze into a brick). Quick note on the extract: bubble gum varies a lot by brand and mine was really potent, so I scaled back to about 1/4 teaspoon and it was still hitting strong. Go slow if you've never used yours before because there's a real line between nostalgic parlor flavor and toothpaste territory. Made a second batch at the full 1/2 teaspoon just to compare and yeah, closer to 1/4 if yours is concentrated. The base is SO good though. Already thinking about what other flavors to try with this formula.
My 8-year-old took one look at that blue color and refused to believe it didn't come from a store. I had to show her the empty mixing bowl before she'd accept it. She said it tasted exactly like the bubble gum flavor from the parlor we go to, which I thought was just a kid thing to say, but honestly she's right. The extract is doing something real here. Double batch going in the freezer this weekend.
She's not wrong. I went through a few bottles finding one that smells like a parlor and not a pharmacy. Hold onto whatever brand you used. Double batch is the right call.
Made a double batch Sunday and it's been scooping clean all week. Never happens with my usual keto ice creams. Not sure if it's the allulose or the vodka splash, but something in this formula actually stays soft.
Both, honestly. The allulose doesn't recrystallize the way erythritol does, and the vodka drops the freezing point so it never gets rock solid. Double batch was smart - this one disappears fast.
My daughter is at that age where she questions everything I make, so when I told her I was making keto bubble gum ice cream she literally rolled her eyes at me. Then she tasted it and went completely quiet, which is somehow more flattering than anything she could have said out loud. She kept sneaking spoonfuls straight from the container while I was trying to get a photo of it. The color from the butterfly pea powder is freaking stunning by the way, that blue is so vivid I genuinely did not expect it to be that vibrant. I went with the no-churn method since I don't have a machine, and it scooped cleanly after about six hours, no icy chunks. Giving it four stars because I think next time I'd push the bubble gum extract just a touch more, I wanted that flavor to really hit up front.
Going quiet while stealing spoonfuls from the container - that's the review. On the extract, bump it. I go up to 3/4 teaspoon sometimes, occasionally a full one depending on the brand. You'll know you're there when the raw cream smells like a parlor.
First time making ice cream at home, and that butterfly pea powder turned everything this deep blue, more than I expected. Is the scoopable softness right out of the freezer intentional or did I need more freeze time?
The vodka drops the freezing point, so scoopable right out of the freezer is the whole point. You didn't do anything wrong.
That blue-purple is exactly what I remember from birthday trips to the ice cream parlor as a kid. Did not expect that to hit me so hard.
That color was the whole reason I kept testing this. Needed it to match that specific birthday parlor blue.
Made this without the vodka, didn't have any and wasn't about to make a store run for it. Came out firmer than expected, but 10 minutes on the counter and it scoops fine. The bubble gum flavor is weirdly accurate. Takes me right back to those little paper cups at the ice cream shop. Will try the full version next time, but works without it.
The vodka is purely texture, so firmer makes sense. If you want to skip it again, 2 tablespoons of allulose syrup does the same job. The full version is worth it.
I'm on my fourth batch of this and I still get a little excited watching the butterfly pea powder turn everything that shade of blue-purple. The scoopability is what keeps me coming back (I've tried other keto ice creams that turn into a brick after two days, and this one comes out clean and soft every time). I always do the full two tablespoons of vodka and I think that's a big part of why the texture holds. The bubble gum flavor is way more convincing than I expected when I first made it. Not that waxy artificial taste, more like the real parlor version. I added the sprinkles right before scooping this last batch and they stayed intact, which I wasn't sure about. Already planning the next one, probably doubling it.
The sprinkles bleed if you add them even an hour early, so right before scooping is the only window. Double batch works fine.