I’ve made a French-style strawberry ice cream in the past, and it had chunks of strawberries in it, which did get quite firm in the freezer. I liked them, but I don’t think everyone was as keen, so I pureed all of the strawberries in this recipe to give the ice cream a really smooth texture (though you can see the seeds, I really couldn’t taste them at all). This ice cream is rich and packed with sweet strawberry flavor, it was the perfect way to use up some berries I’d neglected in my fridge. If I have one tiny criticism of this recipe it’s that the ice cream froze quite hard – I definitely had to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before I could scoop it. Next time I make it I’ll probably try to add a little bit of alcohol to keep it a bit softer.
By Tracey
Perfect No-Cook Strawberry Ice Cream
adapted from Gourmet
Ingredients:
- 1 lb strawberries, stemmed and hulled, halved if large
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups half and half
Directions:
Combine the strawberries in a large bowl with the sugar, lemon juice and salt. Use a potato masher to mash them until coarse. Let the strawberry mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring and mashing every few minutes.
Transfer the strawberry mixture to your blender and add the half and half. Puree until smooth, then pour the mixture into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or until very cold. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in your freezer.
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.
