Fresh Strawberry Icecream

You know how to tell when you have a really rad boyfriend? A good sign is when he gets you an icecream maker for your birthday. The gift of ever lasting icecream is a pretty awesome one.

For my first attempt making icecream I decided to keep things pretty simple and went with a classic favourite, strawberry. With ripe strawberries in abundance, it was an easy choice. They added a lovely fresh flavour and a natural pretty pink colour. The recipe turned out yummy and creamy, perfect for a hot spring day.

Fresh Strawberry Icecream (makes about 1.5 litres)

450g strawberries
200ml full cream milk
400ml cream
1/2 vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped)
8 egg yolks
160g caster sugar

To make the icecream- Purée the strawberries in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Press the strawberry purée through a fine sieve using a spoon or spatula. (My sieve wasn't fine enough and the seeds got through.) Place in the fridge to chill.

Add the cream, milk and vanilla bean with seeds to a large saucepan, bring the mixture to a simmer over mid heat.

While the cream and milk mixture is heating, add the egg yolk and caster sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer, fit with the whisk attachment and whisk for about 2 minutes until pale and creamy.

Add the hot milk mixture slowly to the egg mixture, whisking continuously.

Pour the whole mix back into a clean saucepan. Stirring continuously, cook over a low heat until mixture gets to 79 degrees c. It should coat the back of a spoon. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. Either place the bowl of mixture into an ice bath or into the fridge until it is cold, stir regularly.

Once the strawberry purée and the custard are both cool, mix them together.

Pour the strawberry custard into your icecream maker and churn according to your machines instructions. Mine took about 20 minutes for soft serve consistency.

I transferred the icecream to an airtight container and chilled in the freezer to get the icecream a bit firmer.

Enjoy!!