This is a simple yet indulgent Tutti Frutti Ice Cream recipe packed full with little gems of candied fruits. My recipe for Tutti Frutti also has a bit of alcohol in it too but this of course can be kept out if making for children.

What Flavour is Tutti Frutti?

I think that Tutti Frutti has to be one of the most difficult flavours to pin down. It’s a well known flavour, take the jelly beans for instance, straight away you know it’s Tutti Frutti but WHAT exactly is Tutti Frutti flavour? The reason it’s so hard to pin down is because it is so many flavours in one ice cream. The base flavour tends to be a citrus flavour, often orange or another citrus fruit. Then to that base you add candied fruits, the more the better, in fact a whole rainbow of fruits if you can.

In my dairy free Tutti Frutti recipe I’ve tried to add colours from different fruits. You could go for a cheats version and buy some of those multi coloured glace cherries. You get green, red and yellow in one pot if you do that. However, you’re only going to be adding a glace cherry to the ice cream, and where’s the fun in that?

With my recipe you get a different mini taste experience with each and every spoonful of ice cream.

It’s not unheard of that liqueurs are added to Tutti Frutti ice creams to add another level of depth to the flavour. I’ve gone all in here and added not one but two flavours by adding Amaretto and an orange flavoured gin (Cointreau would work well too but I didn’t have any left).

Not adding these will not ruin the flavour so if you need an alcohol free/child friendly ice cream simply omit the booze.

Where does Tutti Frutti come from originally?

The answer to ‘Where does Tutti Frutti come from?’ depends on whether you’re asking about Tutti Frutti, or Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?

Tutti Frutti – is a collection of candied fruits, kind of like a candy mixed salad. Depending on the country of origin, depends on the fruit. In India it can be that only papaya is used. How do you get the different colours? I hear you ask. Well you simply add natural food colourings to chopped and blanched papaya. Then the fruit is candied in sugar syrup and left to harden. In Italy, you find that Tutti Frutti is a combination of fruits, in fact ‘Tutti Frutti‘ translates as ‘all fruits‘ in Italian. The fruits use are quite exotic due to the climate and can consist of pineapple, water melon, cherries and raisins. In America they use similar fruits but frequently soak them in brandy.Tutti Frutti Ice Cream – the recipe for this has been found dating back to 1860 according to an American art journal called The Crayon which published from 1700’s to the 1900’s. I excitedly reached for my Mrs Beeton Book of Household Management but the recipe didn’t make it to our shores in the UK at this time. As with many of the greats, there is some dispute about who invented Tutti Frutti ice cream for consumers but having read up on this I’m 99% confident that Leopold’s Ice Cream Parlor (or Parlour) in Savannah, USA were the first. Whilst the original recipe is a close guarded secret, the elements are effectively ice cream with liqueur soaked Tutti Frutti and is pink in colour. I think the pink is possibly where the colours have seeped into the liqueur.

What fruits are added to a Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?

As I’ve mentioned above the fruits added are varied dependant on what part of the world you are in. For this recipe I have used candied versions of the following;

• pineapple
• mixed peel (orange and lemon)
• glace cherries
• angelica

Angelica is a wild celery that is harvested and commonly used for medicinal purposes or candied and coloured vibrant green to add to baking. It can also be found to flavour gin and some French liqueurs.

What dairy free cream is best for ice cream?

How to make vegan condensed milk

Other delicious and simple dairy free ice cream recipes

Creamy Diary Free Tutti Frutti Ice Cream Recipe

I value every comment, more than you could know. Don’t be shy and leave a comment. If you share photos of your delicious creations, please do tag me or use the hashtag #Glutarama on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to my email list so that you get NEW recipes straight in your mailbox PLUS a FREEBIE and access to some amazing gluten free DISCOUNTS

*disclaimer: I use affiliate codes on my website, the vast majority are to Amazon. If you click on any of the links or images in the post and make a purchase my family will benefit from a small % of that purchase at no extra cost to you, in fact, for full transparency, in 2020 I made my first £25, and recently in 2022 I reached my next £25 (Amazon don’t transfer the money until you reach £25). As you can see, it won’t make me a millionaire but it will treat me to a few coffees, Lord knows I need the caffeine!