Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

How to Make Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

As one of the classic flavors, when making strawberry ice cream at home, there are many varieties, or many recipe options one can choose to make their own favorite homemade strawberry ice cream blend and flavors. Therefore, when choosing the type of blend to use, and what ingredients to use, there are many variations that one can turn to for their own twist on classic recipes. There are a few basics, and these are the ingredients that will go well for any strawberry ice cream blend, no matter what flavor or how strong you want the blend to be when making strawberry ice cream at home.

First off, the ingredients. Some of the basics are fresh strawberries, flour, granulated sugar, a dash of salt, eggs, milk, heavy cream (or half and half), vanilla extract, and of course ice. For a large batch, using 6 tablespoons all purpose flour, 3 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 cups of milk, 6 eggs, 1 pint of fresh strawberries, 4 cups of heavy cream (or half and half), and 2 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract should be blended in to your ice cream maker, and crushed ice should be added liberally, depending on how thick of an ice cream you are looking to make.

With these ingredients, you will combine the dry ingredients in a saucepan. Once combined, at a medium to low heat, adding in the wet ingredients, and whisking everything together slowly, for about 7 to 10 minutes will create a thick layer. Once the temperature reaches about 165 degrees, the heat should be turned off. Once you turn the heat off, you will remove the pan from the heat, and allow the custard which has been made to coolr. Once cooled, taking the blend and placing it in a flat pan and covering with plastic wrap, it should be placed in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours (24 hours is ideal). The longer the blend cools, the smoother the texture, and the more the flavors can blend together.

Once this homemade strawberry ice cream blend is completely cooled, you will take the fresh strawberries and crush them in a bowl, and once the blend is at room temperature, will mix in the custard with the crushed strawberries. When crushing the strawberries it should be done to a consistency that the individual making the ice cream likes (if you like thicker chunks, or if you want something smoother, the amount of crushing which should be done will be up to each person making the ice cream blend). Once the custard and berries are completely mixed, the blend should then go in to the freezer (again on a flat pan, and covered with plastic wrap), in order for it to harden. The time will depend on how you like your ice cream. For harder consistency, it should be left in the freezer for a longer period of time, for those who like frozen yogurt consistency, it can be left in the freezer for only a couple of hours prior to putting it in to the ice cream maker.

Once the homemade strawberry ice cream is completely hardened, you will basically transfer it to your ice cream maker, and follow the instructions on your ice cream maker as to how to make the mix (each ice cream maker has different instructions, and therefore each individual will follow the directions on their ice cream maker, in order to get the desired consistency). After it has been put in the ice cream maker, the strawberry ice cream should be put in to the freezer, for at least a couple hours, in order to get the perfect consistency. This will allow all flavors to fully blend together, and to get the perfect consistency and levels of cool.

These basic ingredients make a base recipe that can be used for a strawberry ice cream. Each individual can add in certain ingredients, take some things out, or increase (or decrease) the amount of ingredients, in order to get their desired tastes and the flavors they love. But, when making a homemade strawberry ice cream, using the fresh ingredients, and making sure that you go through the entire process is key, in order to get the perfect consistency in the end.