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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Meyer Lemon & Strawberry Ice Cream

As an avid chocoholic I have no idea what came over me when I decided to do a lemon dessert for Valentine's day. Then I saw all the glorious Meyer lemons at Whole Foods and knew they would be perfect. In fact, they are originally a Chinese fruit which made it perfect for Chinese New Year. Not that I had any idea they were Chinese when I got them.

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If you've never had a Meyer lemon you are in for a treat. It's sweeter than a regular lemon and thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. There is something else in the scent that reminds me of...I can't quite identify it...fresh cut herbs?

On to the ice cream, I searched the internet (how did we survive without google) and just adjusted a few recipes for lemon ice cream. Most of the recipe base came from The Ultimate Ice Cream cookbook by Bruce Weinstein.

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Ingredients: 2 large eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice, 2 tbs butter, 2 cups of half & half, 1 pint strawberries and 1 tbs sugar.

Note: If you are using regular lemons add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar making it a total of 1 cup of sugar for the custard/curd base.

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Combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and butter in the top of a double boiler. Place over simmering water and beat with hand mixer (unless you are in for a whisking work out) for about 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens. You are basically going for lemon curd here.

Let the curd cool a bit and then add in your 2 cups of half & half. Lick the spoon. Or at least thats what I did. Cover this with plastic wrap (I put it all the way on top of the custard to keep a skin from forming) and refrigerate overnight or until thoroughly cold.



Thinly slice 1 pint of strawberries (tops removed) and toss with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let the strawberries macerate for at least 2 hours.

When your custard, your strawberries and your ice cream machine are ready, pour the strawberries and their liquid into the custard base and mix well. Freeze according to your machine instructions.

It will come out frozen but soft. If you like your ice cream firmer than put it in the freezer for a few hours. One of the things I love about this ice cream is that even after being frozen for days its still soft enough to scoop.

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Serve as is or garnish with a lemon slice and/or a bit of zest.

This ice cream was a huge hit. B finished half a batch and I took the other half to my parents who also loved it. It's refreshing, creamy and sweet and I can't wait to make more versions of this lemon ice cream.

What is your favorite type of ice cream?

20 comments:

  1. Looks so refreshing & delicious! I usually like really creamy & nutty ice creams like butter pecan & pistachio but I feel like I would really love this one! Will add it to my list of ice creams to make once I get a machine!

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  2. Hmmmm!! Looks and sounds really yummy!! :)

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  3. Could you get some dry ice and send some of that my way?! Yum!!

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  4. OMG!! I'm a chocoholic, too, but this looks heavenly!
    Great pics! I feel as if I could just take my spoon and dive in!

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  5. Oh wow, that looks perfect for this summer! So refreshing and just yum. I like homemade ice creams the best. Made PW's vanilla bean one last year and it was heavenly!

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  6. Oh my word, this looks delicious! Refreshing and lovely. As soon as it warms up here, I'm going to try this...so, in about three months. :)

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  7. OOh that sounds (and looks) so delicious!

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  8. That sounds SOOOO delish. Lemons and strawberries FTW.

    I pretty much love all ice cream, I'm just picky about how it's made... I have never liked ice cream that's made with a lot of crap and chemicals (it always tastes funny), so home-made or Breyers or Haagen Daaz is the way to go, since they use milk, cream, sugar and add-ins.

    If I had to pick one, though, I'd say Haagen Daaz coffee - reminds me of my grandma.

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  9. Oh man! That looks and sounds heavenly! Now I have a very strong craving for lemons and I don't think the kids lemon flavored kool aid is going to cut it.

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  10. Oh my gosh, this looks amazing. My favorite ice cream is cookies n' cream, but I'll pretty much eat any kind. And now you've got me craving it!

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  11. you are amazing! that looks delish.. i've never had a meyer lemon before nor have i ever heard of it but it sounds good!

    my fave ice cream? probably either cookies & cream or mint choco... but i actually prefer gelato! it tastes better to me and they have a great range of flavours like ferrero rocher! *yummm*

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  12. Dawn,

    This does sound so delicious and refreshing. I love anything with lemons in it! Best part of this was sharing the recipe with all of us!

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  13. This looks so creamy and delicious! I love the trouble you went to on the first photo--the setting and presentation is gorgeous.

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  14. This look delish! Can't wait to try it - soon. Real soon.

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  15. Dawn,

    By the way if you have a moment, I have an award just for you on my blog today.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  16. Wow, that looks amazing! I will be at Blogher Food too:)

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  17. Oh my, that looks sooo delicious! That's an ice cream that would be very welcome at my house, my Dh loves all things lemon & we both love fresh fruit. We received an electric ice cream maker for our wedding, though we have been using for only the last 2 years, but I love homemade ice cream; I will try out your recipe this spring in our new home!

    =)

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  18. Definitely reach for the chocolate almost 100% of the time...but this looks delicious!
    Now I need an ice cream maker.

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  19. I will say that I am one of the lucky ones that do not like ice cream. I don't hate it but it doesn't temp me in the least. I do make homemade vanilla bean for my son but I never think about eating it. Now cookies? That's another story.

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