The problem? A large quantity of soggy, slightly discolored strawberries. We were so excited at the arrival of fresh fruit season that we ordered up several gallons. Unfortunately, between our order and the pickup, there were heavy rains. Rain makes mushy berries, and hard rain gives them bruises. The berries were so beat up even Steve didn’t want to eat them out of hand—and Steve has (in Michelle’s eyes, at the very least) an amazingly high tolerance for damaged fruit. After a jam-making marathon, it still looked as if the chickens were going to have a feast. But then Michelle found this recipe for strawberry ice cream in the 1994 cookbook, Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home: Two Chefs Cook for Family & Friends. In a bit of synchronicity, this no-egg recipe gave us a chance to see if we shared an opinion we heard on Martha Stewart Living Radio (Michelle would like to thank the nice folks at Sirius/XM satellite radio for bringing her hours of drive-time domesticity): that eggless ice cream, which is all the rage these days, has more fruit flavor than custard-based varieties.
Unlike what one hears on other channels of satellite talk radio (*Ahem* PATRIOT NETWORK *Ahem*), this bit of information turned out to indeed be true. The ice cream was rich and delicious, and much more berry-forward than anything we’ve ever seen out of our ice cream machine. Next time, Steve wants to add some strawberry pieces to the mix before freezing. Though unfortunately for ice cream, the weather has started to improve—meaning more perfect berries that will not be safe from Steve’s depredations.
These are a lot prettier than the ones we made the ice cream with.
STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
(adapted from Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home) (makes about 1-1/2 quarts)
1-1/2 c. milk 1/2 c. heavy cream 2 TB + 1 c. sugar 2-1/2 TB light corn syrup 4 c. ripe strawberries, stemmed 3 TB lemon juiceStirring occasionally, simmer the milk, cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1-1/2 teaspoons of corn syrup in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Adjust heat as needed to make sure the mixture doesn’t turn color. When the mixture coats a spoon, remove it from the heat.
Purée the berries in a blender. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of corn syrup and the lemon juice. Add the remaining cup of sugar (or less to taste).
Add the cooled cream mixture to the berries, and quickly blend. Refrigerate until completely cooled (overnight is okay). Then pour the mix into your ice cream maker and freeze.
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There’s a radio station called the Patriot Network? Weird. I get all my news from your blog. I can’t wait to get out my ice cream maker!
Ha, ha—I’m glad to know we’re The Daily Show of food blogging! (Patriot Network = Fox News, basically.)
Oh, God. The Patriot Network? I wonder if they dress up for the radio shows.
I think they mostly just dress up like Glenn Beck.
I don’t care what the question is. The answer should always be THIS strawberry ice cream. Looks amazing.
Thanks, Greg. It’s really very berry.
This looks fantastic! I am glad that you found a way to use the strawberries. You were drowning in berries, I was suffocating in kale! I think that long stretch of winter+early spring must have made us nuts for fresh fruit and vegetables!
Your ice cream looks amazing. The color is sublime!
Thanks, Daisy! It’s always like that in the spring, don’t you think?
Your solution is perfect
nothing beats the deliciousness of strawberries, especially in ice cream!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
It would be difficult to tire of fresh strawberry ice cream. Good use for soggy fruit:)
Thanks! It was really rather surprising. Much different then the usual creamy strawberry ice cream.
Great way of using the fruit. I hate it when people chuck away beaten up fruit because they still make great desserts, as you have shown. As long as you blitz them, then it doesn’t matter – it all goes down the same way anyway, right?
Oh, gosh, yes, we should’ve mentioned just how frugal this was!
A missed opportunity
Perfect solution – and I am so glad I dusted down my ice cream maker a couple of weeks ago
Thanks, Tanya. It’s definitely time!
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Only once I’ve found pretty berries with the stems still on.. the flavor of this ice cream would take away any worries about how pretty the strawberries were!
The season is so short. I hope we find some of the last ones at the market tomorrow—pretty or not!
Haha I love the comment about the chickens feasting. My parent’s chickens love strawberries. We give them the tops and hulls all the time
They’re the best little garbage disposals!