Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Strawberry Ice Cream – This is So Not Cheating

Many people consider this type of strawberry ice cream recipe a “hack” or a “cheat,” because we’re skipping the more time-consuming and sometimes temperamental egg custard step; but even if I didn’t want to save time, and possibly eggs, I’d still prefer this method.

To be clear, I’m only speaking about this specific flavor of ice cream. For deep, dark chocolate, or butter pecan, I’ll take the classic French-style every time. But, for sweet, juicy strawberries, I’m not a big fan of the subtle egginess you get with the traditional method.

For me it muddles the fruitiness, and coats the tongue a bit too much. When I eat a bowl of this on a blazing hot summer day, I want nothing but pure strawberries and cream goodness. To achieve that you need to include a lot of strawberry puree, and all that extra liquid means the texture will not be quite as luxurious. It’s minor sacrifice.

Feel free to skip the 10-second blending of the cream, but I like how it very slightly thickens the mixture. A few seconds too long however, and you’ll have whipped cream, which is going to give you a frozen mousse effect; not something I’m into personally.

By the way, rumor has it that these make some pretty spectacular ice cream sandwiches, if you can get your hands on some shortbread cookies. So, as we head into another long, hot summer, I hope you give this fast, simple, and very delicious strawberry ice cream recipe a try. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
12 ounces trimmed strawberries (one of those baskets should get you close)
3/4 cup white sugar
very tiny pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream

36 comments:

Elizzaruth said...

Those strawberries look dreamy.

aaronchow said...

...yeah I could go for that. It's like I even had to think about. Why are you so stupid. AHHHHHHH! But seriously awesome as usual. Enjoy!

Roberto said...

Chef: Stop with the apologies. This is what I've known as "Real Home Made Ice Cream" since I used to hand crank it using ice and salt back in the day. The stuff with eggs is something we call "Frozen Custard and we always considered it a "hack" to make up for skimping on the butter fat. Our family considers your basic recipe the superior version. We still make a batch (usually vanilla) at least once a week. Two tips: Pre-freeze your storage container. Don't buy a cheap machine.

roberto cavarra said...

I found a little bit of Whey protein concentrate powder or skim milk powder creates a "fluffy" professional texture : )

Unknown said...

Chef, what would happen if the two drops of food coloring would be two drops of balsamic? Maybe that would work better in a sorbet rather than ice-cream. Hmmm... and what about a dash of black pepper with that in a sorbet. That would be amazing. I like where I am going with this.

Yours truly...Naved (been watching your videos religiously for 4 years now - thank you thank you thank you).

Jay M. said...

All of the questions! Would cooking down the strawberries first do anything helpful at all for the texture? Maybe removing some of the water? Great summer ice cream, and I agree with skipping the eggs here. Nice!

Chef John said...

heat changes the flavor! i want it pure and fresh.

Chef John said...

Naved,
only one way to find out! ;)

Mask said...

Hey ho,
Which icecream machine model do you use? I am always very hesitant to buy stuff for the kitchen because it is so easy to spend a lot of money on garbage.
Thanks in advance and also thanks for all the wonderful cooking tips and inspiration.
Greetings from Germany

milkshake said...

when you get a chance, try throwing one quarter of a ripe Haas avocado into your vanilla+cream-based ice cream or milkshake, as a secret ingredient. It sounds odd, but avocado enhances the vanilla extract flavor and adds "depth" (just like a tiny piece of anchovy adds character in a savory dish)

Jef said...

I don't have an icemaker, but what I do have is a stick blender. I like to make 'ice cream' by mixing frozen slices of strawberry (or any other fruit) with runny honey and heavy yoghurt (10% fat at least). I have never tried to freeze it after that though....

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about how I would make an ice-cream recipe with raw milk that wouldn't involve cooking it (alla custard base) and this recipe will be absolutely perfect!

Meg said...

This is the way my family has always made ice cream. My favorite is peach but the strawberry looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Have you considered using a bit, like 1/2 teaspoon of Xantham gum to your mix. It should keep it creamy without ice crystals. It will also keep ice cream you keep in the freezer from going rock hard.
I add a bit of Xantham to all my ice cream mixes including my custards.

Chef John said...

I've never tried it! I'll have to experiment next time.

Anonymous said...

Would this work with fresh blueberries? And if so, 12 oz. of those or would it be a different amount?

There's a fresh blueberry pie that's a longtime favorite of mine, but my attempt to make it an ice cream flavor wasn't flavorful enough. That had an egg custard base--and of course chopped graham crackers. I haven't tried again in a long time.

Chef John said...

Never tried with BB, but they aren't as sweet, so not sure about adjusting.

Gsweb8 said...

Hi Chef. This is in my ice cream maker right now. I can't stop eating it while it's churning. GREAT recipe! Could I do this with peaches?

Chef John said...

Haven't tried, but peach purée should work the same.

Kenny said...

Made this last night, but I only had 10 ounces of strawberries. I made up the difference with blackberries, and it gave it a beautiful complexity of flavor — okay, okay, I did stop and taste, you caught me — and a slightly deeper reddish/purple color.

Got the toddler in on the ice cream-making action and had a lot of fun. Can't wait to try it tonight!

Win, win!

Victoria said...

@mask- I have a machine almost identical, cuisinart ice cream machine. Mine came with two bowls so you can make 2 batches one right after the other! I am constantly making ice cream for family functions and you really can't go wrong with the cuisinart! Can't wait to try this! The recipe book that came with the machine also has a recipe for fresh mint ice cream- growing two kinds of mint and can't wait to try! Also, the book has this method as well as sorbets and custards but I always do this one- 1 cup whole milk, 2 cups cream! Tastes dreamy!

Unknown said...

I just made this a few hours ago and now it's in the freezer. I must say that this recipe is absolutely killer!! Surprised my Wife with it when she got home from work. I have the slightly larger Cuisinart ICE-30BC. It holds 2 quarts and it was a good thing. Once it got to the soft serve stage, it was starting to come up to the filler hole. Cudos, Chef John!!

Unknown said...

Greetings Chef! We have made this several times and it is a winner in our house. Today we ventured off and made it with fresh peaches. We also added some crushed up ginger snaps at the end. Wow! It is the best peach ice cream we have ever had. Thank you for the foundation to build on. You are amazing!!

Unknown said...

going to make this today!! about how many servings does this make?

Chef John said...

I think it makes about 5 cups, so depends on how much u want to eat!

Unknown said...

I just made this and its a hit! Only thing is I had half n half instead of heavy cream and I used condensed milk instead of regular milk. I used less sugar. And added chopped frozen strawberries while it was in the ice cream maker. No food coloring was needed as it was such a pretty pink already. I will def be making this again. Thank you!

Unknown said...

If you want little chunks of strawberry in the finished product, do you mix those in the ice cream base before or after the churning?

Unknown said...

A bit disappointed to be honest... I followed the instructions, but should have added a bit more sugar, and most importantly a lot less heavy cream and more milk! I did however screwed up and mixed it for wayyyyyy too long, that did not help either am sure.. but it was too buttery for me..

Chef John said...

It's not the recipe! You over-mixed it to the point where the butter separated. That's why it had that texture. Try it according to directions, and you will see the difference.

Gandalf said...

These videos are going to really make me fat by the time I am 60. You are like a gourmet siren ......

:-)

Unknown said...

I made Ice Cream using your recipe.
Before that I tried more than 10 other recipes, and every time
I had sense that I doing something wrong.

Your recipe is amazing.
Ice Cream is natural and has nice flavor.

Thank You very much and sorry because my poor English because
I'm not native English speaker.

Please put on Your blog more recipes for other easy to make Ice Creams and other sweet stuff.

Best wishes!

Medin, Bosnia

Foodie Golfer said...

I've made strawberry ice cream like this for years and everybody who tries it raves about the strawberry flavour. The one difference is that my recipe calls for the addition of the juice of a lemon and an orange. They are undetectable in the final product but they lift the strawberry flavour to another level. The added acidity combined with the sweetness of the strawberries and the sugar just works.

I can also confirm that if you overwhip the cream it ruins the final texture of the ice cream.

highpeakrider said...

I have a batch in the ice cream maker now. Of course I licked the blender. It was incredible! I bought a basket of fresh organic strawberries from the farmer's market. They don't look as good as conventionally grown strawberries, but it was a deep red all the way through and very flavorful. Did not add red food coloring. Used organic grass fed cow milk, but have to admit to using cream from Costco. I have some blackberries starting to ripen and peach season is in full swing in my stone fruit growing valley, so I'm going to be stocking my freezer!

anniemaria192 said...

This entire post absolutely ROCKS! Thank you for all the hard work you put into it. It really shows. commercial ice shaver machine

Unknown said...

I would love to watch you make a peach cobbler ice cream in the Cuisinart machine.. I just made the strawberry for my husband and he loves it.. Thanks

Unknown said...

Made this easy recipe today with the kids and my kitchen aid stand mixer with ice cream maker attachment/bowl and we all believe it is the best strawberry ice cream we've ever had! I might add a bit of lemon zest just to brighten it up next time. My kids and I love your puns, jokes and voice too. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!