Meyer Lemon & Strawberry Ice Cream

As an avid chocoholic I have no idea what came over me when I decided to do a lemon dessert for Valentine's day. Then I saw all the glorious Meyer lemons at Whole Foods and knew they would be perfect. In fact, they are originally a Chinese fruit which made it perfect for Chinese New Year. Not that I had any idea they were Chinese when I got them.

If you've never had a Meyer lemon you are in for a treat. It's sweeter than a regular lemon and thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. There is something else in the scent that reminds me of...I can't quite identify it...fresh cut herbs?

On to the ice cream, I searched the internet (how did we survive without google) and just adjusted a few recipes for lemon ice cream. Most of the recipe base came from The Ultimate Ice Cream cookbook by Bruce Weinstein.

Ingredients: 2 large eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice, 2 tbs butter, 2 cups of half & half, 1 pint strawberries and 1 tbs sugar.

Note: If you are using regular lemons add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar making it a total of 1 cup of sugar for the custard/curd base.

Combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and butter in the top of a double boiler. Place over simmering water and beat with hand mixer (unless you are in for a whisking work out) for about 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens. You are basically going for lemon curd here.

Let the curd cool a bit and then add in your 2 cups of half & half. Lick the spoon. Or at least thats what I did. Cover this with plastic wrap (I put it all the way on top of the custard to keep a skin from forming) and refrigerate overnight or until thoroughly cold.

Thinly slice 1 pint of strawberries (tops removed) and toss with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let the strawberries macerate for at least 2 hours.

When your custard, your strawberries and your ice cream machine are ready, pour the strawberries and their liquid into the custard base and mix well. Freeze according to your machine instructions.

It will come out frozen but soft. If you like your ice cream firmer than put it in the freezer for a few hours. One of the things I love about this ice cream is that even after being frozen for days its still soft enough to scoop.

Serve as is or garnish with a lemon slice and/or a bit of zest.

This ice cream was a huge hit. B finished half a batch and I took the other half to my parents who also loved it. It's refreshing, creamy and sweet and I can't wait to make more versions of this lemon ice cream.

What is your favorite type of ice cream?