Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream ~ Pure in taste and understated in its muted pink coat, this unassuming strawberry ice cream packs more flavor than a pan full of Emeril’s “Bam-d” up food.

Like most of you, I’m sure your spice cabinet resembles an apothecary’s tool kit. This recipe required some self restraint on my part, especially since I was dying to doctor this up with some pink and green peppercorns. But keeping my audience in mind, I kept it simple, especially since my dinner group that I will be serving this to is on the less adventurous side. Okay, it’s my family again.

But really, I figure for all the things Matt does for me I can indulge a few of his requests. And the one thing he loves and wants right now is ice cream. That is strawberry ice cream to be exact, nothing too busy and nothing weird. That definitely meant no peppercorn infusion for him.

I was okay with that since this is a celebratory dinner for us and I love making ice cream. Ice cream is one of those simple homemade desserts that can quickly and easily be adapted for many different flavors.

This homemade strawberry ice cream is about as pure as you get in flavor -nothing but cream, a little bit of vanilla and some macerated strawberries. That being said, if you can find organic strawberries use them, as they are twice as sweet and flavorful as their non-organic sibling. They are the star of the dessert, so let them shine!

A few notes:

• For best flavoring macerate strawberries overnight.
• If you only have  1% milk on hand use ¾ 1% milk and ¼ cup of cream.
• Store ice cream with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent icicles.
• To make the tuile cups as seen in the picture, click here.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Yields 1 ½ quarts

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

2 vanilla beans split and seeds scraped out or 2 teaspoon of vanilla paste or extract
Pinch of salt

1/4, 1/2 cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

1 pint (basket) organic strawberries

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Placed rinsed, hulled and chopped the strawberries in a bowl.  Add the ¼ cup of sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract and toss to mix. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of the mixture and transfer to the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight.

2. In a medium saucepan add milk, sugar and a pinch of salt. Over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally warm the mixture until small bubbles begin to form on the edge. Remove from heat.  Stir in scraped seeds and emptied vanilla bean. Let steep covered for an hour.
3. Create an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice water. Place a smaller bowl inside. Pour half of cream mixture into small bowl. Place a strainer on top of bowl. Set aside.
4. Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl. Set aside. Reheat other half of cream mixture until bubbles form on the edge. With one hand pour warmed mixture over egg yolks, use your other hand to constantly whisk eggs, so they do not curdle.
5. Pour mixture back into saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Make sure to scrape the bottom with a rubber spatula as you do so. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon and holds a line drawn through with your fingers, approximately 4-8 minutes or use an instant read thermometer and bring the mixture to 175-180 degrees F.
6. Once mixture achieves proper consistency or temperature, pour warmed mixture over the strainer into the cold mixture. Cool newly combined mixture over ice until it reaches 70 degrees F. Refrigerate until chill for at least 4hours.
7. Transfer mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Slowly add the strawberry mixture during the last 5 minutes of churning. Freeze when completed.