Summer Ice Cream Event: Strawberry Sweetness

From a simple quart of strawberries wonderful things come.

I didn't want to let strawberry season pass me by without taking advantage of those luscious berries. Normally, I'd have them with yoghurt or whipped cream,

Since our dearest Sam of sweet pleasure: pleasure sucre announced his summer ice cream event, I was hard pressed to find another flavour that best represents summer.

I searched the web for a good recipe...and I thought I found one. I won't link to it because, well...there are problems. I was suprised--the chef associated with it is a known quanitity, with a television series or two, some books and a vocal legion of followers.

I think the recipe writer mis-noted the quanitity of strawberries needed...and I think he or she needed to double-check the amount of sugar needed....and when it was needed.

After mixing everything up, I realized I had too much liquid. The original recipe claimed to make roughly 1.5 litres of ice cream...difficult since the brine came to the 1.8-litre mark on my measuring jug, producing approximatley 2.25-2.5 litre of ice cream--not that I'm complaining. It's very, very good.

I debated what recipe, if any I should post. Should I provide you with the original? Should I provide you with what my next strawberry ice cream experiment should be? Or should I not post any recipe at all?

Well...one can never really have too much ice cream. So what I am doing is giving you what I made up the other night.

I didn't catch the strawberry error until too late, but I was able to fix the sugar before tipping it into the cream. I also used vanilla sugar instead of regular sugar.

Be forewarned, you will need to divide it into at least two batches, unless you have an ice cream maker that can handle at least 2.5 litres at once.

The resulting ice cream is a very pretty dusty rose colour, as opposed to the almost violent pink found in those questionable boxes and tubs in the grocer's freezer section. It is sweet--but not cloying so. I suppose if I were using winter berry imports I'd need the nearly 500g of sugar the original recipe called for, but during strawberry season, I don't think that extra adde sweetness is necessary.

Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
450g fresh, ripe strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped
350g vanilla sugar
500ml half-and-half cream
500ml heavy cream
6 large egg yolks

Method

• Combine strawberries and about a half-cup of sugar in a blender and blitz until smooth.
• Combine both creams and the balance of the sugar in a saucepan. Let the contents come to a simmer over medium-low heat while strirring occasionally.
• In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in colour. Dribble in the hot cream while whisking vigorously--this is to keep the eggs from scrambling in the bowl. Keep adding cream and whisking until about half the cream is in the bowl.
• Tip the eggy mixture the saucepan with the warm, sweetened cream. Take the pan back to the hob, and over medium flame stir constantly until thick. You know you are done when the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
• Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the strawberry puree until fully incorporated. Pour into a bowl or 2-litre mixing jug. Let mixture cool to room temperature, then cover with cling film and then refrigerate for at least four hours or until cold.
• Pour in one litre batches into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions, letting it churn for about 25-30 minutes. When done, transfer to a freezer-friendly container and pop it into the freezer for at least three hours prior to serving.

cheers!
jasmine

tags: Ice cream Strawberries Summer ice cream event