July 4, 2012

Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream

by Natalie Dicks

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with a bowl of fresh homemade strawberry ice cream?  Earlier this week I mentioned that I bought a big box of strawberries… I’m talking two pounds. We had a few that were getting overly ripe… I knew exactly what to do with them. I pureed them and made ice cream! Fresh fruit ice cream is always a favorite of mine and strawberry is certainly no exception. It’s easy to make, freezes while you’re cleaning up and is ready to go in a couple of hours. This morning we’re headed to a breakfast, parade and then later tonight we’ll be watching fireworks from the stadium. When we get home guess what we’ll be diving into a bowl full of? Yep.

Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream
Ingredients
1½ c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped

¾ tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
¾ c. + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 c. fresh strawberries, hulled and pureed

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine pureed strawberries and 2 tbsp. of sugar in a bowl. Place in refrigerator until needed.
2. Slice the vanilla bean in half and scrape in to a medium saucepan. Add in vanilla extract, heavy cream, milk, salt, and sugar. Turn heat to medium and bring mixture to a very low simmer (just before it starts to boil and forms bubbles around the edge).
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks. While constantly whisking, slowly pour the heated milk mixture in to the egg mixture. Continue to pour milk while whisking. Pour the contents back to the pan and cook until mixture becomes thick and coats the back of a rubber spatula (it should also reach 170 degrees on a thermometer).

4. Remove immediately and pour through a mesh sieve into a large clean mixing bowl. Place the bowl over an ice bath to cool and then place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly (approximately 25-30 minutes).
5. Pour mixture into ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Churn for approximately 25-30 minutes. 

6. When ice cream has thickened, remove half of the ice cream from the machine and place in a freezer safe container. Pour in strawberries and continue to run machine until strawberries have blended. Pour into vanilla portion and swirl with a skewer or butter knife. Freeze for 4-6 hours before serving.

Adapted from Naturally Ella, Strawberry Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream | Makes 6-8 servings