Strawberry ice cream

One summer when I was very young we went strawberry picking as a family. I’m pretty sure we ate more than what went into the punnet we paid for, and I don’t think that was a surprise to the farm owners. On the car ride there my father asked me if I wanted manure or cream on my strawberries. After thinking about it I went for the manure — I didn’t know what it was but I thought it sounded exotic. Always the gourmand... Ask me again and I’ll take the strawberries and cream — in fact I’ll take ’em together in this gorgeous pink ice cream, or one of the variations on the opposite page.

Makes 1 litre (35 fl oz)

½ vanilla bean

310 ml (10¾ fl oz/1¼ cups) thin (pouring) cream

310 ml (10¾ fl oz/1¼ cups) full-cream milk

8 egg yolks

165 g (5¾ oz/¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

170 ml (5½ fl oz/²/₃ cup) strained strawberry purée, made from ripe, fragrant fresh strawberries

1 tablespoon strawberry liqueur (optional)

Put the vanilla bean, cream and milk in a saucepan. Bring almost to the boil over medium–high heat, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar. Gradually pour in the infused milk mixture, whisking constantly.

Pour into a clean saucepan and stir over medium–low heat for 15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened to a thin custard consistency and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, cool slightly, then pour into a bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours, or until cold.

Strain, then stir the strawberry purée and liqueur through. Churn and freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (Alternatively, you can pour the custard mixture into a large shallow cake tin and freeze for 2–3 hours, or until just frozen around the edges. Whisk to evenly distribute the ice crystals through the mixture. Repeat this every hour until the mixture is frozen and evenly textured.)

Transfer to a 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cup) plastic container. Smooth the surface over, top with a sheet of baking paper, then pop the lid on. The ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 1 week, but tastes best if eaten within a few days.

Photography © Brett Stevens

Strawberry ripple

Swirl Strawberry syrup through the ice cream as it firms up.

Strawberry white chocolate crunch

As the ice cream is firming up, stir in some grated white chocolate and crushed speculoos biscuits (spiced, caramelised Belgian cookies).

Strawberry coconut ice

Line a small loaf (bar) tin with plastic wrap, spray with cooking oil spray and sprinkle liberally with desiccated coconut. When the strawberry ice cream comes out of the ice cream machine, scoop enough into the tin to form a layer 3 cm (1¼ inches) deep; spread over gently with a spatula to ensure it is even. Freeze for 1 hour. Top with a layer of Coconut ice cream and freeze until ready to serve. Dip briefly in hot water, then invert onto a serving plate. Garnish with strawberries and, if you want to be extra decadent, drizzle with condensed milk.