Strawberry Ice Cream Love

For the first time in many years, I'm in possession of a functioning ice cream maker. My friend Annie gave me a little Donvier ice cream maker for my birthday while I was in graduate school--a present she was justifiably pleased with herself for thinking of. (For months before my birthday, she would say, at random moments, "I know what I'm getting you for your birthday," and then laugh. Only when it arrived did I understand.) I made countless batches of ice cream in the Donvier (some with my friend Sarah Hart, who now has become an expert in all things sweet and especially chocolatey. If you're ever in Portland, OR, don't miss her store, Alma Chocolate. Annie (again wisely) sent me some of Sarah's sweets for my birthday a few years ago, and I'm still thinking of the Ginger Almond Toffee.)

Eventually, though, the part of the Donvier that was supposed to stay frozen stopped freezing, and the possibility of homemade ice cream went away. I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize that KitchenAid made an ice cream maker attachment for its mixer. I've had a KitchenAid mixer for 6 or 7 years now--why didn't I know that sooner? In any case, I know it now, and last week, my ice cream maker attachment arrived.

I didn't have to debate what my inaugural batch of ice cream would be. It so happens that, nearly every night, Alex says, at some point, "I want some strawberry ice cream." And it also so happens that he has a June birthday. Since I never get him strawberry ice cream when he has his nightly ice cream cravings, I thought it was the least I could do for his birthday. I started looking up ice cream recipes online and immediately found references to David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop. It turned out that the Northampton library had it on the shelves, so I went to fetch it with dispatch. What a book. Immediately, I found many, many ice cream flavors I wanted to try. (And it turns out that David Lebovitz's website is even more tempting since it has recipes for baked goods as well.)

But for Alex's birthday, strawberry it was. I made one adaptation and made the strawberry-sour cream ice cream with yogurt instead, which, I believe, makes it strawberry yogurt ice cream. Of course, I will have to try it with sour cream for comparison's sake, but I don't think the yogurt version was lacking anything.

My garden is producing small numbers of lovely strawberries these days (when the birds and/or slugs don't get to them first), but I needed a pound for this recipe, so I bought a quart of local berries. The first step is to slice them and mix with sugar and a bit of alcohol.

Then add the yogurt or sour cream and then the heavy cream:

Then whir it up in the blender (I used my immersion blender right in the bowl) until it looks like a most delectable strawberry ice cream shake:

After that chills for an hour in the fridge, you let the ice cream maker do its thing. The results are sure to please even the most ardent strawberry ice cream fan:


As for me, I'm pondering the flavor possibilities for Fridays' work picnic. Ginger? Ginger with ginger snaps? Coconut? The possibilities are many, and I look forward to contemplating them all. I do think it's fortunate that the freezer bowl requires 18 hours in the freezer between batches. Otherwise, it would be ice cream all the time here, which, while delicious, might also be dangerous. There's a long summer ahead of us, and plenty of time for ice cream.

Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

(Makes about 1 1/4 quarts)

1lb fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1tbs vodka or kirsch (I used Absolut Citron, which was all I had)
1 cup whole milk yogurt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice strawberries and toss in a bowl with sugar and vodka, stirring until sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.