An ice cream machine is one of those kitchen appliances I thought I'd never buy because I thought I wouldn't use it enough to justify the purchase. Not that they are overly expensive, but it would still be wasted money if I bought it and then only used it once or twice. Well, a few summers ago, I don't know if it was the Houston heat or the savvy Williams-Sonoma marketing, but I gave in and I'm glad I did. I don't use it all year round but I do use it regularly during the sticky and steamy summer months here, which are more than just the calendar months of summer. If you have kids, I think this is something fun you could do during the summer months using different kinds of mix-ins when making vanilla ice cream, like crushed Oreos, caramel, brownie chunks - I'm sure the kiddos will dream up all sorts of stuff to swirl into the ice cream in it's final minutes of churning!
The recipe for the ice cream pictured is a simple non-custard based recipe, which means there are no egg yolks to be whisked and then tempered with the cream mixture. Custard based recipes are very good but sometimes you just don't want to go through all that trouble. This recipe is very simple and super yummy. It's like eating a strawberry milkshake but with lovely chunks of strawberries throughout.
I've read in several different magazines and books that non-custard based recipes tend to get icy once you freeze the finished product completely - that has not been my experience. The only thing I have found is that once you have the fully frozen product, you'll need to allow five to ten minutes for it to soften a bit for scooping, so just take it out a little ahead of when you want to eat it. (I am including a recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream at the bottom of this post).
**I did not eat the entire bowl of strawberry ice cream pictured...in one sitting...**
Strawberry Ice Cream
from Gourmet Magazine
1 pound strawberries, trimmed of stems and quartered
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (16 ounces) heavy cream (or carton will be labeled heavy whipping cream)
**Important note: make sure you have frozen the insert to your ice cream machine for 24 hours.**
Place strawberries in a bowl with the sugar, lemon juice and salt. Mix well and mash strawberries. Let the strawberries sit for 10 minutes, occasionally mashing a little more.
Put half of the mashed strawberries mixture in a blender with the 2 cups of cream. Blend until smooth. Pour the pureed mixture back into the bowl with the remaining strawberries and mix well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 3-6 hours. (this batch chilled for 3 hours and it was fine but the chillier the better).
Put the strawberries and cream mixture in the insert of the ice cream machine and churn for 20 minutes, may be a little longer or shorter depending on your machine. Enjoy immediately as a soft-serve style ice cream or put in a freezer safe container to become a little more solid. Ice cream keeps for 1 week.
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| Beautiful fresh strawberries |
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| Stawberries with sugar, lemon juice and salt |
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| Strawberries, after being mashed/mixed with sugar, lemon juice and salt |
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| Final strawberries and cream mixture, ready to be chilled and then churned |
Vanilla Ice Cream
3 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Heat the cream, sugar, vanilla, and vanilla seeds in a small saucepan only until the sugar is dissolved. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved so there is no longer in grittiness from the sugar. Strain into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream machine for approximately 20 minutes. May be a little shorter or longer depending on your machine and how chilled your cream mixture is. Enjoy as a soft-serve style ice cream immediately, or spoon into a freezer container for more firm ice cream. Once completely frozen, allow to soften before serving.
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