November 18, 2007: Strawberry icecream

It's the perfect time of year for icecream, and I've been keeping an eye on berry prices, biding my time. This weekend I found just what I was after - punnets of almost overripe strawberries for only a couple of dollars. It hasn't always been this way. The kind of strawberry icecream available from the supermarket when I was a kid was enough to scare me off the concept almost for life. I bet mine wasn't the only household where it was always the last flavour left in a tub of Neapolitan, right? And then there was the strawberry flavoured Quik... ergh... what were those food scientists thinking?!

My epiphany came shortly after buying my icecream maker seven years ago. The manual had a few recipes at the back, including the ubiquitous vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I tried the chocolate first of course, with good results, but was soon looking for something new. The artificial strawberry flavouring that I knew was so different from the lovely taste of fresh ones that I figured it was worth a gamble. Boy, was it ever! This tasted like strawberries. And cream. And spring! I've since added some lemon juice to that recipe to really lift the fruity flavour. Given the water content of the fruit, this icecream isn't the richest around - it sets up a somewhat icy and needs a bit of time at room temperature before scooping but the reward is a slightly more refreshing taste. If you're after a super thick and creamy icecream, look for a recipe with more egg yolks than this one, probably more cream, and perhaps a cooked custard stage of preparation. For me, this is all I need.

Well, almost. We had some more lattice biscuits in the pantry.... and more cooking chocolate. It only took minutes to melt the chocolate and spread it on the back of the lattice biscuits, insulating them against sogginess. Voila - strawberry chocolate icecream sandwiches! I had by this time issued a spontaneous invitation for Jo-Lyn, Mike and Lee to share some strawberry bliss. We enjoyed these while sprawled around the lounge room, cream dripping from our fingers and into chipped bowls.


Strawberry icecream

250g fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
juice of 1 lemon
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup castor sugar
300mL bottle cream
250mL milk

Place the strawberries and lemon juice into a food processor and blend until smooth. Next blend in the yolks and sugar, then finally the cream and milk. Refrigerate the mixture until it's really cold, at least an hour. Churn in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions and freeze for about 6 hours.

Before serving, allow the icecream to soften in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.