Strawberry fields forever: Part III

I'm pretty sure you're sick of me complaining about the weather all the time. I'm sick of me too. But I can't help it. In Greece, I used to complain that it was always too hot during spring, now that I'm living in Holland, I'm complaining about the opposite.






The thing is, though, that the weather plays a huge part in what I want to eat, what I'm in the mood for to cook, what I'm able to enjoy, or what I can't be paid enough money for to put anywhere near my mouth. Not to mention what an impact it has on my mood. The lack of sunshine is seriously getting to me. I'm so cranky.






I guess it wouldn't surprise you then if I told you that the weather is still bad here, right? Bleak skies, rain, terrible humidity. Still, I am in the mood for ice cream. It's the only thing that can get me out of my funk. Food always does that for me.






The one ice cream I always start ice cream season with, is strawberry. I have been making this one for years and years and it never fails to impress, not only S who is a strict judge of ice creams, but also anyone and everyone who has ever tasted it.






What I want from anything that promises to be a fruit dessert, is that concentrated flavor. That punch in the face and that intensified fruit taste which sometimes is elusive in desserts and especially ice creams. I want that pure, unadulterated strawberry kick and that's exactly what I get every time I eat this ice cream.






The addition of lemon juice, or lime juice if you prefer it, gives the ice cream a little tartness to counterbalance the sweetness of the strawberries and icing sugar, and the absence of eggs makes it particularly light. It is smooth and creamy but without that sticky feel that eggs give to the top of your mouth, making every spoonful even more irresistible.

Ice cream season, here I come!






By the way, have you seen my new header? I realized I was bored with the old one and decided it was time for a change. I played around a little with a photograph I had taken for this post and ended up with this. What do you think?










Strawberry Ice Cream

I used to make this ice cream by hand, i.e. place it in the freezer and whisk it every half hour until completely frozen, but ever since I got my ice cream machine two years ago, I never looked back. Not that you can't make it by hand (I give instructions below on how to do it) but as you can understand, the result will be creamier and smoother.
I have also served this as popsicles (like these cherry sorbet ones), where I just poured the ice cream mixture into the molds or shot glasses and placed them in the freezer to set.

It goes without saying that the more flavorful and aromatic the strawberries you use are, the more flavorful and aromatic the ice cream will be. There is no cream or eggs in this ice cream so the flavor is solely dependent on the quality of the fruit. Bad strawberries will have nowhere to hide here, so take care to choose some good ones for this.

You can intensify the flavor of the ice cream further by adding some tiny, fresh strawberry pieces to the churned ice cream, or you can go a different way and add chocolate chips/chunks. Strawberry and chocolate, the perfect combination. Speaking of which, I'll be back with a special accompaniment for this ice cream in a few days, so stay tuned.






Yield: about 670 g of ice cream

Ingredients
300 g fresh strawberries*
190 g icing sugar
375 ml fresh, whole milk, cold
½ tsp lemon or lime juice, freshly squeezed

*I haven't tried it before, but I guess you can make this ice cream with frozen, and thawed, strawberries as well.

Special equipment: fine sieve, small food processor or blender, ice cream machine (optional yet preferable)


Preparation
Rinse the strawberries under cold running water, hull them and cut them in half. Place them in a food processor or blender and purée them. Pass the strawberry purée through a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds.


In a large bowl, add the icing sugar and the strawberry purée. Combine using a wire whisk until you have a homogeneous mixture that doesn't have any icing sugar lumps in it.
Add the cold milk and whisk well.
Add the lemon (or lime) juice, whisk, and give the mixture a taste. You can add a little more lemon juice if you think it needs it.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and churn it, following the manufacturer's instructions.


Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream machine, empty the strawberry ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Place the mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also use a blender, or even a stick blender.
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take 2 to 3 hours, depending on how strong your freezer is.

You can keep the ice cream in your freezer for a week but I doubt if there'll be any left after a couple of days.