Friday, July 08, 2011

Strawberry Season Waning... Oh No! Ice Cream Please

A couple years ago I gave in and bought a Cuisinart Automatic Ice Cream Maker. My Mom had one and Julia's cousins were having just too much fun mixing up frozen concoctions for me to pass up having one for summertime fun at our house. I don't like too many gadgets in the kitchen - I don't even have a microwave. Although my kitchen may look roomy, there is precious little storage space and I think long and hard about adding some big or small appliance to the mix. I have been hankering over a KitchenAid Mixer for years but just can't do it. Just too big and nowhere to put it. I'm still using the hand mixer I had back in my first apartment in college. (Let's just say I have had two other hand mixers but they have broken because the motors got burned out. Nothing like the old appliances for workhorse quality - it is noisy as heck but it just keeps going.)


We're getting to the end of fresh strawberry season here in western Massachusetts. Every Saturday at the Amherst Farmers Market I pick up a couple of quarts, knowing it will be an entire year until I get real strawberries again. If they last til we get home, we are lucky. A couple weeks ago, I did have some extras. We pulled out the ice cream maker and mixed up a batch of strawberry chocolate chip ice cream for Father's Day. It didn't last long and this past Sunday, Julia and I mixed up another.

This is stupidly simple, eggless, no custard ice cream. You'll love it. It's just so good and easy. You can't miss! I usually make it in the morning so that it is frozen solid by evening.

Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1 quart fresh strawberries, stemmed, sliced and bad bits removed
     (reserve some slices for prettying up the dish)
juice of one large lemon
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 cups (one pint) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips or 8 oz. chopped chocolate bar (with a hammer) 
   reserve some for topping if you want to make it pretty.

Clean, stem, and slice the strawberries and put in a bowl with 1/2 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice. Let sit in fridge for 2 hours. Remove and mash with a fork. Pour juice off into a bowl. 

Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with milk until sugar has dissolved. Mix in heavy cream and vanilla. Pour in the strawberry juice leaving the solid bits to add in at the end. Mix and fill your ice cream freezer with the mix. Freeze for about 20 to 25 minutes - until the mixture starts to thicken. Add remaining strawberries and chocolate chips. Mix in freezer for 5 more minutes. Remove to a new container which is suitable for freezing. Freeze to harden and eat later. You will have more than a quart of ice cream. 


Strawberries gone? Substitute raspberries, blueberries.  I think I would leave out the chocolate with the blueberries. And with the raspberries, I might strain the juice through a sieve so that all the seeds don't end up in the ice cream and just top it with a handful of berries.

p.s. I see that KitchenAid makes an Ice Cream Attachment for their stand mixer. Has anyone tried it?

16 comments:

D said...

that ice cream looks amazing! Also, thank you for noting the kitchenaid ice cream attachment, I just got one of those mixers and it seems like they can do just about everything!

Whosyergurl said...

Oh that looks yummy. I admire you for not having a microwave! I don't want the one I've got!

xo, Cheryl

Dianne@sheepdreams said...

Thanks so much for the recipe. It looks so good, I'm going to try it soon. Our blackberries are almost ripe and my husband would really love some blackberry ice cream.

Auntie Shan said...

Blueberries *WITHOUT* Chocolate??!! Not in my Universe! They soooo go together! Especially Dark chocolate... Flavonoid Overload! WooHoo!!

lisa said...

Have made a few batches of ice cream with my Kit henAid mixer attachment. So far great results.hyters

HOA Mgr Lady said...

I actually have the KitchenAid Ice cream attachment and used it last weekend. I have to tell you though no matter WHAT I would always keep my KitchenAid mixer. I have had it 25 years and LOVE it. It's also a work horse. Everything from meatloaf to bread dough to now ice cream.
But that being said the custard style Ice Cream which is what we made is a long multi step process which probably takes 18 or more hours due to the freezing required of the canister prior to making the ice cream. I wonder if your recipe can be made in the Kitchen aid? I bought the KA Ice creamer at Goodwill for $19.00 less 25%so 15 dollars? And its $50 retail. It was an impulse buy. I must add that Dryers or Baskin Robbins is just as good as our home made... and probably cheaper when you add up the ingredients.

JackieLemon said...

I absolutely love my KitchenAid mixer. I've had one for 30+ years and wouldn't be without it. It is a workhorse. I have the ice cream atttachment and will try your ice cream this week. Our raspberries are just ripening now.

Elaine said...

I really like your tablecloth and napkin where the delicious-looking ice cream is sitting. It all looks like a beautiful country farm day. I finally gave my 30 yr. old KitchenAid mixer to my daughter. It's really a beast to haul up and out of a cupboard. I'm like you--I don't like things sitting out on my countertops. Thanks for the lovely photography always.

PAK said...

I love your article, but what caught my eye was the spoon. Is the the Rose pattern by Stief, now Kirk-Stief?

marit said...

mmm-delicious!

We are still waiting for the first strawberries to ripen...it's been a long, cold wet Spring and Summer so far. But if we get a few sunny days now, there will be lots of berries:-)

mommalou said...

Can't believe it! I just bought the Cuisnart ice cream maker last weekend! Your recipe sounds great! And I have strawberries in the fridge. Think I'll try it tomorrow.

Jennifer said...

this looks so yummy! we completely missed strawberry season this year but will pick blueberries in a few week. i think we will make blueberry icecream!

Jenny said...

I agree, I don't have many kitchen gadgets due to limited space. But, I LOVE my KitchenAid mixer - a real workhorse. I love the hands-free!! The dough hook is my absolute fav for yeast doughs & breadmaking! I have a KitchenAid ice cream maker that I found on Craigs List - love it too! I'm gonna try your recipe! Thanks :)

Jenny

Unknown said...

I'm really hoping somebody gives me an ice cream attachment for the kitchen aid mixer Santa brought. My birthday's coming up this summer. I really have to start dropping some hints! I'll try your recipe - I don't care for the eggs in my ice cream, either.

Annie said...

OMG, a Kitchenaid is SO worth it. I love mine so much I have two. LOL But the regular size one is the one that I use all the time. The big one is too big for everything but a huge batch of bread. We had the kitchenaid ice cream attachment but I didn't like it. I ended up buying a stand-alone ice cream freezer that doesn't have to be pre-frozen. I'm the opposite of you, I love appliances and have way too many!

Did your strawberries come out frozen? The only time we tried strawberry ice cream the berries made nasty icy bits, which spoiled it for me. Maybe adding them at the end fixed that? It looks so yummy and beautiful.

tjf said...

Yum. The ice cream looks delicious! I own a White Mountain ice cream maker that makes up to 6 quarts and we use it all summer. Thanks for the recipe; I am looking forward to trying it out.

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