Strawberry Ice Cream

 Remember Monday?  When I couldn't deliver my Valentine's Day gift to you?

So lame.  You deserve better.

You deserve strawberry ice cream.

Can we still be valentines?

Good.  Moving on.

You know what's even better than making this ice cream for your sweetheart on VDay?  Making it for them a week later.  Then, not only do they know you love them, but they know you still love them, a week later!  Excellent logic. 

If you've ever made ice cream at home, this will be simple for you.  If you haven't, come to my house and I'll teach you.  You'll need an ice cream maker and some gumption.  

It's a basic vanilla base, with strawberry puree added in just before processing.  The hardest part is making sure you don't curdle the eggs- correct tempering takes care of that.  Tempering means slowly adding a hot liquid to a cooler one, to bring them to the same 'temper'-ature.  Get it?

This would be such a sweet treat to enjoy on a beautiful day like today.

Sweet, strawberry goodness.

Tell your sweetheart you love them again.  It never gets old.

(Then come to my house and eat strawberry ice cream.)

Strawberry Ice Cream
by Oven Love, adapted from Tyler Florence

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
pinch salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1 cup strawberry puree, cold*

Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large pot.  Split the 1/2 vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor.


In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and blend lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 5 minutes.

Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in half of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not let it boil.

Pour the custard through a fine strainer into a bowl and chill completely in an ice bath or in the fridge. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker, but just make sure the base is cold.  Before processing, stir in the cold strawberry puree.  Process in an ice cream maker and enjoy.


*To make strawberry puree using frozen strawberries: Put frozen strawberries in a strainer over a bowl to thaw, letting the liquids drain.  Process in a blender or food processor and strain again.  Let chill before adding to the ice cream base. (You can do the same with fresh strawberries, there's just no draining involved.)