Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
A summer in New England is not complete without a scoop of fresh strawberry ice cream! This Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe is the perfect summer treat made with simple ingredients and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor.
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This creamy strawberry ice cream tastes better than anything you can get at the grocery store. If this is the first time making your own ice cream, you’ve come to the right place! This old fashioned sweet treat will have you hooked and you won’t believe how easy it is!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- This is a classic strawberry ice cream with fresh fruit and a creamy texture.
- The two-part strawberry mixture is super flavorful. A strawberry syrup flavors the base and creates a creamy, scoopable texture, while bits of mashed strawberries add a burst of sweet berries without biting through frozen chunks of strawberries.
- This is a great recipe for kids. The kids will be so excited to help make their own homemade ice cream!
Ingredients
- Fresh Strawberries: Make sure to choose fresh berries during strawberry season.
- Sugar and Corn Syrup: This combination adds necessary sweetness, but the combination helps prevent ice crystals from forming.
- Lemon Juice
- Heavy Cream: Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream for the perfect creamy texture.
- Whole Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Egg Yolks
See the recipe card for exact quantities.
How To Make The Best Strawberry Ice Cream
There are a few steps to making this recipe, but I promise none are complicated. And when you taste a scoop of this strawberry ice cream, you’ll know it was worth the effort.
First, you start by making a strawberry compote, which is separated into strawberry syrup and the leftover mashed berries. Next, you make the vanilla ice cream base and combine it with the strawberry syrup. After that, you chill the mixture and, you churn it, adding the mashed berries at the last minute.
Strawberry Mixture
Wash, dry, and trim the green tops off of the strawberries. The berries can be left whole. Add the strawberries, 1/4 cup of sugar, lemon juice, and salt to a 2-3 quart saucepan with a wide bottom.
Cook the berries on medium-high heat until enough liquid is released to submerge the berries halfway in juice. The liquid will be boiling.
Reduce the temperature to medium heat and simmer for 6-10 minutes, until the berries are very tender. Use a fork or potato masher to break up the berries into small pieces.
Cook for another 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until the strawberry mixture is thick, the berries have broken down to small bits and the bubbles have started to look syrupy during simmering.
Strain the berries through a fine mesh strainer into a small measuring cup.
Press the mashed berries through the strainer to get out as much strawberry syrup as possible.
You should have ½ a cup of strawberry juice. Transfer the mashed berries to a separate container and chill. Let the syrup cool while you make the ice cream base.
Tip: Try not to have more than 1/2 cup of strawberry syrup. If you find yourself with much more than that, return the syrup to the pot and reduce it further. A little under 1/2 cup is ok.
Make The Ice Cream Base
Start by Placing a 2 quart metal bowl in the freezer and filling a second larger bowl with ice.
Combine the milk, heavy whipping cream, and corn syrup in a 2 quart saucepan. Heat over medium to medium high heat until consistently steaming and reaches 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Stir occasionally.
While the cream is heating, combine the 4 egg yolks and ¼ cup of sugar in a small bowl. Whisk until combined and light yellow, about 30 seconds.
Hint: by adding the sugar to the egg yolks before cooking, you slow down the coagulation of the proteins in the yolks. This keeps the yolks from scrambling when they’re added to hot liquid.
Once the cream and milk are ready, remove ½ cup of the cream mixture from the pot and slowly whisk it into the egg yolks to temper.
Add the egg mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick and just starting to simmer. The temperature should be 185-190 degrees F.
Remove the base from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Grab the small freezer bowl and set it inside the large bowl filled with ice.
With a fine mesh strainer, strain the custard into the chilled, small bowl, to remove any bits of egg yolk that may have cooked.
Add the strawberry syrup to the custard base and stir. Cool to room temperature and then store in the fridge until cold 6 hours or overnight.
Churning and Freezing
If your ice cream maker has a canister that requires freezing before churning, make sure it has been frozen for 24-48 hours before adding your ice cream base.
When the strawberry ice cream base is cold, pour it into an ice cream machine and churn per the manufacturer’s directions.
On the last 1 minute of churning, add the reserved mashed strawberry pulp to the ice cream machine. Let the ice cream churn until the berry bits are fully incorporated.
Serve immediately if you love a soft serve consistency or transfer to a loaf pan or shallow dish and freeze for hard serve. Press plastic wrap directly onto the ice cream’s surface and cover it with an additional lid to prevent ice crystals from forming.
Variations
- Strawberries – Fresh or frozen strawberries work for this recipe
- Vanilla Bean – If you have vanilla beans on hand, slice open one pod and add it to the milk and cream mixture as it heats.
- Add Fun Toppings- Add crushed cookies, graham crackers, chocolate chips, or fudgy brownie bite pieces, to the ice cream with the mashed strawberries for a crunchy treat!
- Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches- Add a scoop of homemade strawberry ice cream in between two graham crackers or white chocolate chip cookies for a fun treat!
Equipment
- Ice cream maker– My recommended machine is the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. It holds a good amount of ingredients and churns the ice cream very evenly.
Tip: Depending on the style of ice cream maker you have, if your churning canister requires freezing, make sure it has been frozen for 24-48 hours before churning.
Storage
Store the ice cream in a lidded airtight container with a layer of plastic wrap pressed up against the ice cream. This will help prevent ice crystals from forming and keep freezer burn away.
Your homemade strawberry ice cream will keep well for one week.
Top Tips
- This recipe is dependent on ripe and flavorful strawberries. For best results, pick berries that are deep red, very fragrant, and in season. Winter berries are pretty flavorless and won’t be good in this ice cream. If you want delicious strawberry ice cream any time of year, use frozen strawberries.
- Freeze the ice cream base quickly. This helps to prevent ice crystals from forming.
How Do You Keep Strawberry Ice Cream From Getting Icy?
By cooking down the strawberries to syrup, adding extra sugar in the form of granulated sugar and corn syrup, and using high amounts of fat from the cream and egg yolks, we keep the crystals from forming.
Eliminating large strawberry chunks and adding an extra layer of plastic wrap directly onto the ice cream keeps the crystals from forming as well.
Strawberries contain a lot of water, and when that water freezes it gets icy. By adding a generous amount of fat, and sugar, and reducing the water, we can create a smooth and creamy ice cream.
More Strawberry Recipes
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Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Old-fashioned homemade strawberry ice cream! Bursting with fresh strawberry flavor, bring the taste of a summer in New England to your own kitchen!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces strawberries (fresh or frozen), whole
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
- Dash of coarse kosher salt
- ¾ cup of whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make The Strawberry Mixture
- Wash and trim the green tops off of the strawberries. The berries can be left whole or sliced. Add the strawberries, 1/4 cup of sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt to a 2-3 quart saucepan with a wide bottom.
- Cook the berries on medium-high heat until a lot of juice has released and started simmering. Reduce the temperature to medium heat and simmer the mixture for 6-10 minutes, until the berries are very tender, stirring occasionally. Use a fork or potato masher to break up the berries into small pieces.
- Cook for another 5-8 minutes, stirring often, until the compote has thickened slightly, the berries are broken down (no big pieces) and the bubbles have started to look syrupy.
- Strain the berries through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup. Press the mashed berries to get out as much strawberry syrup as possible. You should have ½ a cup of strawberry juice.
- Transfer the mashed berries to one container and the strawberry syrup into another. Let them cool.
Make The Ice Cream Base
- Place a 2-quart metal bowl in the freezer and fill a larger bowl with ice.
- Combine the milk, heavy whipping cream, and corn syrup in a 2 quart saucepan. Heat over medium to medium-high heat until consistently steaming and reaches 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Stir occasionally.
- While the cream is heating, combine the 4 egg yolks and ¼ cup of sugar in a small bowl. Whisk until combined and light yellow–about 30 seconds.
- Once the cream mixture is hot, remove ½ cup of the cream from the pot and slowly whisk it into the egg yolks to temper.
- Add the egg and cream mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick and simmer bubbles just start to form. The temp should read 185-190 degrees F.
- Remove the base from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Grab your small freezer bowl and set it inside the large bowl filled with ice. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into the small freezer bowl. This will remove any bits of egg yolk that may have cooked.
- Add the cooled strawberry syrup to the vanilla custard and stir. Cool the strawberry base to room temperature (15-20 min) and then transfer to the fridge until cold for 6 hours or overnight.
Churn The Ice Cream
- When the strawberry ice cream base is cold, pour it into an ice cream machine. Churn per the manufacturer’s directions. On the last 1 minute of churning, add the mashed strawberry bits to the ice cream machine. Let the ice cream churn until the berry bits are fully incorporated.
- Serve immediately for soft serve consistency or transfer to a loaf pan or shallow dish and freeze for hard serve. Press plastic directly onto the ice cream surface and cover it with an additional lid to prevent ice crystals from forming.
Notes
- If you have over 1/2 a cup of strawberry syrup after straining, you need to cook the syrup longer. Just heat it over medium heat until reduced.
- Frozen berries can be used in place of fresh berries.
- Depending on the style of ice cream maker you have, if your churning canister requires freezing, make sure it has been frozen for 24-48 hours before churning.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 317Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 169mgSodium: 88mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 29gProtein: 6g
