Fresh Irish strawberries are a real summer treat. Our temperate summers give us sweet, juicy fruit that we think makes the best strawberry ice cream!

Ingredients:

130g sugar
5 egg yolks
240ml cream
200ml milk
200g fresh strawberries
15ml (1 tablespoon) fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

What to do:

1. Rinse and hull the strawberries
2. Put them in a food processor or blender and pulse two or three times. You don’t want to purée them, just break them up a bit.
3. Combine the strawberries, lemon juice, and 30g of the sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Put aside to cool.
4. Bring the milk to a low simmer
5. Remove from the heat
6. Beat the rest of the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
7. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into the pan, and place over low heat.
8. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just cost the back of the spoon. Don’t over heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
9. Immediately remove from heat.
10. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool. (5C)
11. Stir in the strawberries and vanilla
12. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks - don’t over whip)
13. Fold and gently stir the cream into the custard.
14. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up ice crystals
15. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place in freezer, and continue to freeze until solid

Notes:
1. Vanilla is optional, but we like it as a base flavour for this ice cream
2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher then 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.
3. Fruit contains a lot of water and will become icy in ice cream. Cooking fruit with sugar will counter this effect.