Strawberry Ice Cream

Wow, what a busy week I had last week.  A big event at my job, some parties to attend, a Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert on Sunday.  I'm beat!  Did I mention this is my last week at my job also?  Well it is.  I'm going to stay home with my little girl and be a mommy.  That's quite the change for me, I've worked since I was 14 so this new step is a little scary for me.  The plus side is that I'll get to keep up on this blog much better than I have lately.  I'll also get to start making a meal plan which has been on my to-do list for way too long.  I usually run home and just throw something together so we can eat at a reasonable hour before the night time rush of bath's and bedtime.  I'm really looking forward to this change.

Along those lines comes this ice cream.  My daughter basically likes all ice cream so if I could figure out how to make broccoli ice cream I might be onto something. Just kidding, that sounds gross.  She's been asking for strawberry ice cream lately because I've been bringing home all these wonderful strawberries for us to snack on.  I finally gave in (she really had to twist my arm)!  She loved helping me make the custard for this ice cream and she also loved giving it a taste test once it was in the ice cream maker and starting to freeze.  She's a great help.

First off, you need to wash your berries.

Hull them and put them into a food processor.

Process with several small pulses.  You want it to have some chunks but be mostly ground up. This looks perfect.

Now start making your custard.

Strain the custard to remove any cooked egg pieces.

Add in the strawberry mixture.

Stir and refrigerate overnight.

Process in your ice cream maker for about 20-25 minutes and then move to a container you can freeze it in.  Let harden before scooping, or eat it as soft serve out of the ice cream maker.

I love the flavor of this ice cream.  You can really taste the fresh strawberry taste and it's creaminess makes it unbeatable.  I recommend you let sit on your counter for a few minutes before scooping as it did get pretty hard in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream
Found at Brown Eyed Baker

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced.  (32 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
pinch of salt
1 whole vanilla bean
6 egg yolks
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Wash and hull your berries, then place in a food processor with 1/4 c of the sugar and the lemon juice and pulse several times until most of the berries are broken up but there are still chunks left.  Transfer to a dish and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Start the base by adding 1 cup of the cream to a medium saucepan, add the milk, the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar and the salt.  Warm the cream mixture and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Once warm you can turn off the heat and add the vanilla bean.  Cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream in a bowl and place a strainer on top of the bowl.  Set aside.  In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Add some of the hot cream mixture from the stove to the egg yolks a little at a time to temper the eggs.  When you've added about 1 cup of the warm cream mixture to the eggs and whisked thoroughly you can then pour the egg/cream mixture back into the rest of the warm cream that is still in the sauce pan.

Turn the heat back on under the saucepan and warm the egg/cream mixture using a spatula to stir and scrape the bottom. Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.  The temperature should be 170 degrees.  Pour the heated cream mixture through the mesh strainer into the remaining heavy cream.  Use your spatula to push the mixture through the strainer.  Pour in the chilled strawberry mixture and mix to combine.  Chill the mixture in an ice bath and then refrigerate overnight in a covered container.

When chilled, remove the vanilla bean and run the mixture through your ice cream maker for about 20-25 minutes. Freeze until hard.