Strawberry Ice Cream
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA SUMMERIntroduction
There is just something about home-made strawberry ice cream: it's the taste of blue skies, of sun on your shoulders; an idealised memory of summer in perfect culinary form. If you're up to it, and I don't mean by that anything much, as it's really pretty simple, make some vanilla shortbread to go with, but whatever, just make this: even using long-haul imported strawberries in bleakest February, it is sunshine-giving, life-transforming, sensational.
There is just something about home-made strawberry ice cream: it's the taste of blue skies, of sun on your shoulders; an idealised memory of summer in perfect culinary form. If you're up to it, and I don't mean by that anything much, as it's really pretty simple, make some vanilla shortbread to go with, but whatever, just make this: even using long-haul imported strawberries in bleakest February, it is sunshine-giving, life-transforming, sensational.
Ingredients
Serves: 10-12
- 500 grams strawberries
- 175 grams caster sugar (plus 2 tablespoons)
- 500 millilitres full fat milk
- 500 millilitres double cream
- 1 vanilla pod
- 10 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1¼ pounds strawberries
- ¾ cup superfine sugar (plus 2 tablespoons)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean
- 10 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Method
- Hull and roughly chop the strawberries, put them into a bowl and sprinkle over the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and leave them to steep and infuse with flavour.
- Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan, and add the vanilla pod, split down the middle lengthways. Bring the pan nearly to the boil and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
- In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and the 175g / ¾ cup sugar until thick and pale yellow. Take the vanilla pod out of the milk and cream and pour, whisking the while, the warm liquid over the yolks. Put the cleaned-out pan back on the heat with the cream, milk, egg and sugar mixture and stir the custard until it thickens, then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool.
- Puree the strawberries in a processor, and when the custard is cool fold in the lemon juice and strawberry puree.
- At this point you can either freeze the ice cream in an ice-cream maker, or in a plastic tub in the freezer. If you do the latter you should whip it out every hour for 3 hours as it freezes and give it a good beating, either with an electric whisk, by hand or in the processer. That gets rid of any ice crystals that form and that make the ice cream crunchy rather than smooth.
- Hull and roughly chop the strawberries, put them into a bowl and sprinkle over the 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar and leave them to steep and infuse with flavour.
- Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan, and add the vanilla bean, split down the middle lengthways. Bring the pan nearly to the boil and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
- In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and the 175g / ¾ cup sugar until thick and pale yellow. Take the vanilla bean out of the milk and cream and pour, whisking the while, the warm liquid over the yolks. Put the cleaned-out pan back on the heat with the cream, milk, egg and sugar mixture and stir the custard until it thickens, then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool.
- Puree the strawberries in a processor, and when the custard is cool fold in the lemon juice and strawberry puree.
- At this point you can either freeze the ice cream in an ice-cream maker, or in a plastic tub in the freezer. If you do the latter you should whip it out every hour for 3 hours as it freezes and give it a good beating, either with an electric whisk, by hand or in the processer. That gets rid of any ice crystals that form and that make the ice cream crunchy rather than smooth.
Additional Information
Before you begin making the custard fill the sink half full with cold water. If you think the custard looks like splitting at any stage, plunge the pan into the cold water and whisk like mad.
Before you begin making the custard fill the sink half full with cold water. If you think the custard looks like splitting at any stage, plunge the pan into the cold water and whisk like mad.
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Show more commentsBrilliant recipe. Makes delicious ice-cream. Love this website!!!
This recipe is perfecto! I would not change a thing.
I would suggest that you cover the custard with cling film when you're letting it cool. It prevents a skin forming on the top.
I have just put mine in the freezer! It doesn't really taste very much of strawberries though and it has a strange orangey-pink colour. I'm putting the colour mostly down to the fact that the yolks were very bright but I reckon the next time I'll use quite a lot more strawberries.
I am trying this recipe today, am half way but wondered what you do with the 10 egg whites? What quantities of ingredients are we talking for a 10 egg pavlova for instance? Is there anything else I could use them for? Thanks :-)
You do a different version of this ice-cream, which I'd love to make, using 'syrupy balsamic vinegar'. What make do you use & where from please? I presume you avoid the Modera balsamic? Thanks again.
I only gently mashed the strawberries. Then added some more just before freezing. Yummy yummy. Best strawberry recipe so far.