Alpine Strawberry Ice Cream

It is hot, I am suffering, and I have many alpine strawberries. Clearly the only thing to do here is to make ice cream.

This recipe is a custard-style one, which means there will be much stirring of a pot over a stove and a considerable amount of chill-time required. It’s also gluten free, and the eggs it contains get cooked during the custard-making process, not left raw.

You will need:

• 1 1/4 cup of frozen alpine strawberries
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 quart milk + 1 cup
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt

How to make – Before you start cooking

If your ice-cream maker is reliant on a frozen piece, make sure to put it in the freezer ahead of time! Some of the bigger pieces need more time than you’d think to freeze through.

Collect your ripe alpine strawberries until you have enough. Depending on how many plants you have, this could be a single day’s picking, or it might take a few days. Alpine strawberries do start to lose their flavor very quickly after being picked and don’t keep in the refrigerator, so save them for later by spreading them out gently in a freezer bag and popping them in the freezer. Just make sure you freeze them within about an hour after picking for best results!

Once you have enough berries, you can make start making your ice cream base.

Ice cream recipe- Instructions

-Start by getting out a large pot, and pour 1 quart of milk in it. Set aside.

-Crack your eggs into a bowl and beat until foamy. Add the cornstarch and sugar, and mix well. Add this resulting egg mixture to the pot of milk. Move pot to stove.

-Stirring constantly, heat pot over medium-low heat until the contents are brought to a slow boil. This will feel like it’s taking a small eternity. I use a whisk to stir, and a book to thwart the boredom.

-Pull from heat immediately after achieving a slow boil. Sometimes this is hard to see, because the contents of the pot will have reduced and thickened significantly. Leave this custard to sit and cool down for a while.

-Once cooled, add your remaining cup of milk, the salt, and the vanilla to the custard, and blend well. Move the pot to the refrigerator to chill for 24 hours.

-The alpine strawberries are added after the chilling period- take at least 1 cup of the chilled ice cream mix and pour it into a food processor, then add the alpines and blend together. Combine the result back with the chilled ice cream mix.

-Pour your alpine strawberry ice cream into your ice cream maker, and let it run! Each ice cream maker has different instructions, so follow the ones that were included with your particular model. This recipe did well in my 1 quart machine, though it did start to overflow over the top a bit as it solidified more. This was easily fixed by simply eating the escaped ice cream as it made a break for it.