Rich Lemon Ice Cream


Lemons have been on my mind lately. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I really get into planning what kind of cake and ice cream I want to make for myself. I’m kind of a geek about it actually.

This year the theme is LEMON. Tart, yet slightly sweet lemon.

I’m still looking at cake and filling recipes–although I’m pretty sure which one to use.

But, when I was looking at my trusty The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, I found THE ice cream–Rich Lemon Ice Cream.

And I can tell you, as a seasoned homemade ice cream connoisseur, it is the best lemon ice cream I have ever made or tasted. (And that really is saying a lot.)

Doesn’t it look creamy?

I was drawn to this recipe as soon as I read the directions–
First a lemon curd is made as the base, and milk and cream are added once the curd has been cooked.

For other recipes I have made, a custard is made first (with eggs, sugar and milk); then fresh lemon juice is added with the cream to the cooked custard.

I was intrigued and not disappointed.


Now, if you don’t have one of these (a microplane, zester, or rasp) then you need to get one! (I looked at many citrus zesters before deciding on the one I bought from Microplane®. And it’s only $9.95!)

The zest is where all those essential oils are, and provide a very important component to the perfect lemon flavor of this ice cream.

And now for the recipe….

Rich Lemon Ice Cream
From The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, lemon juice, zest, whole eggs, and egg yolk. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Add milk and cream. Strain through a fine mesh sieve over a clean bowl.

(The mixture will be very thick.)

Chill until cold–about 3 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions.

Let the frozen ice cream harden for a few hours before serving. Keeps about a week in an airtight container.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

You may also like

13 Comments

  1. I made this ice cream yesterday, and it was so yummy. It tastes like lemon meringue pie! I only had 4 eggs, so I used 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks, and it seemed to work fine. I’ll have to try the written recipe sometime!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.