When my mother was teaching me to cook she rarely opened a cookbook or went by a recipe. That’s why I had a dilemma recently when a friend asked for some help.

I had a friend ask me for a strawberry ice cream recipe recently. For the life of me, I couldn’t ever remember having a recipe for that. If I wanted strawberry ice cream, I just mixed up my good ole vanilla recipe and threw in some strawberries. I don’t guess I ever considered a special recipe for the frozen concoction.

When I started looking around, I’m thinking that both theories is correct: there are special recipes just for the strawberry ice cream and you can just throw strawberries into your favorite vanilla ice cream mix.

So, for my friend who’s searching for a recipe, I’m printing these today. Alright Becky, you’re on your own. Pick one and give me a call when it’s frozen.

Strawberry Ice Cream

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

3/4 cup white sugar

3 egg yolks

3 tbs. light corn syrup

Place the berries into the container of a blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Pour into a large bowl, and set aside.  Heat 1 1/4 cups of the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to bubble at the edge of the pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, remaining 1/4 cup cream, and corn syrup. Gradually pour the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Strain custard into the berry puree through a sieve, mix, and refrigerate until chilled.  Fill an ice cream maker with the mixture, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

For this next recipe, you could actually substitute your favorite fruit for the strawberries.  I think peaches might go nicely here as well.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

1 cup white sugar

6 cups milk

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla, salt and sugar in freezer canister of ice cream maker, and stir well. Add enough milk to bring mixture to the fill line on canister. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.