Sweet Things Remembered

This strawberry ice cream is technically a frozen custard, but either way it is delicious. It’s smooth, creamy, and packed with strawberry flavor.

I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone who didn’t like ice cream. I mean, even people who are lactose intolerant are willing to face the consequences for a bowl of that frozen, creamy goodness. I have trouble wrapping my mind around people who only have ice cream every once in a while, too, like it isn’t a regular part of life. Growing up, I think it’s fair to say we had ice cream quite a bit. Grandma always had vanilla ice cream that we, of course, topped with way too much chocolate syrup. Mom would get us orange push ups from the Schwan man. Family movie nights were often accompanied by ice cream. We made trips to Young’s Jersey Dairy for putt-putt and ice cream, or stopped in at Ritter’s for a sweet, frozen custard treat. Even in my adult life, I have the dessert pretty often, like when my husband and I went out for ice cream after every doctor’s appointment while I was pregnant. Like I said, it’s a regular part of life.

When it comes to making ice cream at home, though, I think of my grandpa and his green ice cream machine. I only remember him making it a couple times, and I believe it was strawberry, but my dad said he used to make peach flavor as well. I can picture the machine sitting up on the counter. It was the kind that has a bowl for the ice cream in the middle and an outside layer that gets filled with ice and salt to go around the bowl. The anticipation for it to be done churning so we could have a taste was agony, but always worth the wait. Now, I have an ice cream machine of my own, and I enjoy trying out different flavors and inclusions. With summer in full swing, I figured now is a great time for strawberry ice cream. I don’t have the exact recipe my grandpa would use, but I was told at one point that his recipe did have egg yolk in it (which technically means it’s a frozen custard). To recreate his ice cream, I made a frozen custard base, added a strawberry reduction, and churned it using my ice cream maker. It turned out pretty good, and I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• Whole Milk
• Heavy Cream
• Sugar
• Egg Yolks
• Vanilla Extract
• Strawberries – You can use fresh or frozen. I used some strawberries that I had cut up and froze. Just be aware that frozen strawberries may take some additional time to reduce due to extra water coming from them when cooking.
• Lemon Juice

Measurements are included in the recipe card below!

Equipment

• Saucepan
• Spatula
• Measuring Tools
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• Bowl
• Ice Cream Machine – I have the the Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt – Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker (ICE-21P1) and I really enjoyed using it. You just have to freeze the bowl overnight, and then you’re ready to add in your chilled ice cream mixture and let it churn. It makes 1.5 qts.
• Ice Cream Storage Container

How to Make Strawberry Ice Cream

Step One: Make the Strawberry Reduction

• In a saucepan, combine 4 cups of cut up strawberries (fresh or frozen), ¼ cup sugar, and 1 tbsp lemon juice.
• Cook the strawberries over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble. As the strawberries cook, mash them with a potato masher or wooden spoon.
  • You can mash them as big or as small as you would like. If you would prefer to not have strawberry chunks, you can blend the mixture with an immersion blender after it is done cooking.
• Once the mixture is bubbling, stir it every so often and let it cook until it thickens. It should be thicker than a syrup, but not as thick as jam. This should take 8-10 minutes, but may take longer if using frozen berries.
• After the reduction has thickened transfer it to a heat safe bowl and put it in the refrigerator so that it can cool.

Step Two: Make the Frozen Custard Base

• Before beginning, prep your egg yolks by separating them from the whites.
• In a sauce pan, combine 1¾ cups whole milk, 1¾ cups heavy cream, and ½ cup sugar, and warm over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some of the heated milk into the bowl with the egg yolks, beating continuously. Do this until you’ve added about ¾-1 cup of the milk mixture to the egg yolks.
• After the egg yolks have been tempered, pour the egg yolks into the saucepan, stirring continuously.
• Keep stirring, and heat the liquid until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. This means that it stays on the spoon, rather than running off.
• Strain the liquid using a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits from the egg, and then gently stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and the cooled strawberry reduction.
• Place the custard into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
  • You want the custard to be as cold as possible before churning, so the longer you can chill it the better. I let mine chill over night.
• Once the custard has chilled, pour it into the ice cream machine bowl and let it churn for about 20 minutes.
  • Be sure that you have allowed your ice cream machine bowl to freeze completely before trying to churn the ice cream. This is another thing that is best to let go over night.
• After the ice cream is done churning, it can be eaten right away for more of a soft serve texture. For a scoop-able texture, put the ice cream in an airtight, freezer-safe container, and place it in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
  • This one does not have to be done over night, but you want it to have a chance to firm up before you can scoop.
• Once your ice cream is ready to scoop, serve it plain or with whatever toppings you choose. Enjoy!

Questions You May Have

Strawberry Ice Cream

Recipe by rebekahdearmond

0.0 from 0 votes

Difficulty: Medium

Servings

1.5

quarts

Prep time (w/o chill time)

45

minutes

Churning time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• For the Strawberry Reduction

• 4 cups strawberries, cut up

• ¼ cup sugar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• For the Frozen Custard

• 1¾ cups whole milk

• 1¾ cups heavy cream

• ½ cup sugar

• 5 egg yolks

• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

• Make the Strawberry Reduction
• In a saucepan, combine 4 cups of cut up strawberries (fresh or frozen), ¼ cup sugar, and 1 tbsp lemon juice.
• Cook the strawberries over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble. As the strawberries cook, mash them with a potato masher or wooden spoon to the desired size.
• Once the mixture is bubbling, stir it every so often and let it cook until it thickens. It should be thicker than a syrup, but not as thick as jam. This should take 8-10 minutes, but may take longer if using frozen berries.
• After the reduction has thickened transfer it to a heat safe bowl and put it in the refrigerator so that it can cool.
• Make the Frozen Custard
• Before beginning, prep your egg yolks by separating them from the whites.
• In a sauce pan, combine 1¾ cups whole milk, 1¾ cups heavy cream, and ½ cup sugar, and warm over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some of the heated milk into the bowl with the egg yolks, beating continuously. Do this until you’ve added about ¾-1 cup of the milk mixture to the egg yolks.
• After the egg yolks have been tempered, pour the egg yolks into the saucepan, stirring continuously.
• Keep stirring, and heat the liquid until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. This means that it stays on the spoon, rather than running off.
• Strain the liquid using a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits from the egg, and then gently stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and the cooled strawberry reduction.
• Place the custard into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
  _{You want the custard to be as cold as possible before churning, so the longer you can chill it the better. I let mine chill over night.}
• Once the custard has chilled, pour it into your ice cream machine bowl and let it churn for about 20 minutes.
  _{Be sure that you have allowed your ice cream machine bowl to freeze completely before trying to churn the ice cream. This is another thing that is best to let go over night.}
• After the ice cream is done churning, it can be eaten right away for more of a soft serve texture. For a scoop-able texture, put the ice cream in an airtight, freezer-safe container, and place it in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
  _{This one does not have to be done over night, but you want it to have a chance to firm up before you can scoop.}
• Once the ice cream is ready to scoop, serve it plain or with toppings. Enjoy!