Strawberries Part 3 — Strawberry Ice Cream

We are quickly running out of room in the freezer on account of this strawberry craze.  However, it would have been a very sorry thing indeed to leave out strawberry ice cream this year.  I love ice cream, always have.  However, strawberry ice cream has never been at the top of my list.  (I typically go more for the scoop of chocolate and the scoop of coconut or something.  You know how it is.)  But there is something very lovely about homemade strawberry ice cream in the summer.  Particularly if it turns out well. 

I've made strawberry ice cream several times over the years, and every now and then my eyes begin to roam to other cookbooks looking for a different one to try. There is no point though. This recipe from Nigella Lawson is the best one.  I've also tried the Williams-Sonoma one from their Ice Cream book, but it pales in comparison.  For starters, Nigella's recipe is basically a frozen custard, meaning it is loaded with heavy cream, whole milk, and an absurd amount of egg yolks.  Whereas the WS one has no egg yolks, less strawberries, and less flavor altogether. Also Nigella's recipe calls for a whole vanilla bean.  However, the vanilla flavor is never strong enough for me.  So I'm thinking that next time I will try vanilla paste in its stead.  We'll see how it turns out, but not till next summer.

Typically I store the ice cream in a plastic tub in the freezer.  But I tried something different this year — big glass canning jars.  I've gone a little nuts with trying to steer clear of plastics — particularly when you are heating or freezing the stuff, which is why I've gone the glass jar route.  However, if you happen to be into BPA, hormone disruptors, carcinogens, and all that good stuff, then by all means please use it.  Anyway, it hasn't been too difficult to scoop out of the jar.  But it does require a nice sitting on the counter for ten minutes before even attempting to scoop it.  This is supposedly a desirable thing anyway.  I remember reading that ice cream needs to breath the same way wine does before consuming.  Not only does it soften it up making it more palatable, but it also somehow enhances the flavor.  (This is what the Rosengarten Report said a few years ago anyway.)

And so, with (finally) soaring temperatures, we've had a few lovely nights of dinner on the deck in the backyard, with Emilia reminding us constantly throughout that she wants ice cream, 'after you finish your dinner!'  It has been so nice to sit out there, eating our ice cream and looking at how much the backyard has changed over the past while — trampoline, kiddie pool with a whale that blows water, and anything else that Emilia can slip out there when mama and dada are not looking. 

Summer has arrived.  Hopefully it will stick around for a bit.  

Strawberry Ice Cream
makes 10 - 12 servings

1 generous pint of strawberries
10 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 ¼ cups whole milk
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
10 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Hull the strawberries and chop them roughly.  Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.  Set them aside to steep with flavor.

Pour both the milk and the cream in a heavy saucepan.  Split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape the inside.  Toss both the vanilla bean and the black goodness into the pan with the milk.  Bring nearly to a boil and then set aside to steep for 20 minutes or so.

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks with the 10 tablespoons of sugar.  It should turn nice a nice pale yellow.  Remove the vanilla bean from the pan, and then whisk the milk/cream mixture into the bowl of egg yolks.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and then place it over heat.  Stir until the custard begins to thicken, then take it off the heat and pour into a bowl to cool.

Puree the strawberries, either in your food processor or with a hand held device (my new personal fave — so easy and it cuts down on dishes drastically).  When the custard is cool, stir fold in the strawberries and lemon juice.

Freeze the ice cream in an ice cream maker (using manufacturers instructions).  Nigella says that alternatively you can freeze the ice cream by hand.  I've never done this before.  Essentially what you do is pour the custard into a plastic tub and put it in the freezer.  After an hour, pull it out, process it, put it back in the tub.  Repeat this process one or two more times.  (Recipe from: Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson.  Hyperion Publishing, 2003.)