Nothing says “good ol’ summertime” better than homemade ice cream. This is an easy recipe but it requires a few hours lead time to cool the mixture before going into the churn. I usually make the base a day ahead. Of course making the ice cream itself is part of the entertainment. Just remember it is “soft-serve” right out of the churn. Freeze it for a couple of hours to cure it for a hard pack ice cream.
I’ve included two variations, strawberry (or raspberry) and peach. Play with different ingredients to make it your own holiday treat. The real secret, though, comes in using locally-grown, pasture-raised, ClemTuck Farm fresh eggs…. 😉
What You’ll need:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 ClemTuck Farm egg yolks, beaten
- your choice of fruits or flavorings (see below)
Fruit flavorings:
- Strawberry or Raspberry: Puree in a blender 1 pound berries with 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Make ice cream base without milk. Add puree to base while still warm.
- Peach or Apricot: Pit and quarter fruit. In a saucepan add fruit and 1/2 cup sugar and cook over medium heat until fruit has softened, about 10 minutes. Puree in a blender. Make ice cream base without milk. Stir in 1/2 cup buttermilk to puree and add puree to base while it is still warm. Add a few drops of almond extract if desired.
Directions:
- Combine cream, milk, sugar and salt in a medium pot. Heat over low heat until sugar completely dissolves, around five minutes.
- Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl.
- Slowly add about a third of the pot contents to the eggs, whisking constantly. This tempering is needed to slowly heat the eggs to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Add the egg mixture back into the pot and gently heat ingredients to 170 degrees under medium-low heat. (Mixture will coat the back of a spoon when right. This should take around ten minutes.
- Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
- Add fruit flavoring to mixture and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Serve immediately for soft serve or freeze until ready to use.