Another fantastic recipe from The Perfect Scoop, which I shall be buying immediately (or as soon as I’ve maxed out my library renewals, anyway). It’s ridiculously easy to make (throw stuff in blender, blend, chill, churn in ice cream maker) and, as promised, super-lemony—so refreshing on a summer day. And, conveniently, it used up the other half of the carton of half-and-half I bought for last weekend’s chocolate-peanut butter ice cream!
This ice cream turned out much lighter, so fluffy that I got nearly double the yield of my last attempt, and the texture is less creamy, almost crumbly when scooped and more akin to sorbet in the mouth. I thought maybe I messed something up (Did I overchurn it? I was also busy making BLTs and corn at the time), but since neither my KitchenAid instruction booklet nor Lebovitz’s book mention this as a potential ice-cream-making problem, I’m chalking it up to simply the lower fat content in this particular recipe—not only is it made with half-and-half rather than eggs or cream, but it doesn’t have the extra heft peanut butter provided last time around. Regardless, it’s delicious, so I’m not worried. I’ll definitely be making this again. I’ve seen variations online using limes instead of lemons, which would be excellent to try as well. I’d also like to figure out a way to incorporate strawberries into the ice cream for a strawberry-lemonade flavor (in the meantime, though, I’ll just serve it with strawberries on top).
2–3 lemons (the original recipe calls for 3, but mine were so juicy that two sufficed), preferably organic/unsprayed
½ cup sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1 pinch salt
1. Zest 2 lemons directly into a food processor or blender. Add the sugar and process until the zest is finely ground.
2. Juice the lemons you just zested, plus another lemon if necessary, to yield ½ cup juice. Add to the blender and blend until the sugar dissolves.
3. Add half-and-half and salt and blend.
4. Chill mixture for 1 hour, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
Yield: 1 quart (for us, about 8 servings)
Time: 15 minutes, plus chilling and freezing time
Leftover potential: Good.
I just made this ice cream and it was wonderful, but I just wanted to know if anyone else thought there was a slight "curdle" taste? Maybe its just me and the knowledge that milk and lemon usually curdle...
ReplyDeleteanyways, I also made that peanut butter chocolate ice cream, its so much fun eh!
I don't remember tasting a curdled flavor. Maybe (especially if it was a hot day when you made this) your half-and-half was too warm? My understanding is that although lemon juice does make milk curdle, that process happens much more slowly at cold or room temperatures (enabling us to make lemon ice cream) than at warm temperatures (adding lemon juice or vinegar to hot milk creates instant curds, which is how you make ricotta!). Glad you enjoyed it anyway!
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