Ingredients
For the Base:
- 2 cups heavy cream (36% fat content)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
- 5 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 150g granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
For the Strawberry Component:
- 450g fresh ripe strawberries
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
Substitutions:
- Vanilla beans can be replaced with 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Frozen strawberries can work (thaw completely first)
- For a lighter version, replace 1 cup heavy cream with whole milk
Execution
Strawberry Preparation:
- Hull and quarter strawberries
- Toss with 50g sugar, lemon juice, and salt
- Roast at 175°C (350°F) for 25-30 minutes until jammy
- Cool completely, then pulse in food processor to desired chunk size
Ice Cream Base:
- Heat cream and milk:
- Combine in heavy saucepan
- Add split vanilla beans and seeds
- Heat until steaming (82°C/180°F)
- Remove from heat, steep 30 minutes
- Make custard:
- Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale
- Slowly stream in warm cream mixture, whisking constantly
- Return to pan, cook over medium-low heat
- Stir constantly until mixture coats back of spoon (82°C/180°F)
- Strain through fine-mesh sieve
- Chill and Churn:
- Cool custard in ice bath
- Cover with plastic wrap touching surface
- Refrigerate 4+ hours or overnight
- Churn in ice cream maker 20-25 minutes
- Fold in strawberry mixture
- Transfer to freezer container
- Freeze 4+ hours until firm
Additional tips
- Keep in airtight container
- Custard base can be made 2 days ahead
- Roasted strawberries keep 3 days refrigerated
- Over-churning leads to buttery texture
- Not straining custard leaves egg proteins
- Using cold eggs can curdle custard
- Under-roasting strawberries creates ice crystals
- Use room temperature eggs
- Don’t rush the tempering process
- Keep custard moving while cooking
- Pre-chill churning bowl 24 hours
- Leave 10% headspace in storage container for expansion
- Serve with warm butter cookies
- Top with balsamic reduction
- Sandwich between macarons
- Layer with toasted pound cake
