little miss sweetie: Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

It's that time of the year again...strawberry season! When I walked into a local produce shop a few days ago, the shop was perfumed with strawberries. Well, there's only one reason for that scent in the air. It's strawberry season and the intoxicating scent of fresh succulent strawberries can't help but fill the air. Further proof? My little patio strawberry plant, which miraculously made it through winter, sprouted back to life! Of course, supermarkets stock strawberries year-round nowadays, but what's the point to having a tasteless strawberry (that's white on the inside, no less) in the dead of winter?!

Yet again keeping that promise I've made my ice cream maker, we spent some quality time together again and made some fresh strawberry ice cream.
Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup vanilla sugar (see this post), or use granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk

In a food processor, puree the strawberries. Set aside for later use.

In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well incorporated. The mixture should be a pale yellow.

In a medium size saucepan, heat cream and milk. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, keeping the whisk moving at all times to avoid cooking the eggs.

Pour the entire mixture back into saucepan and heat over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to constantly stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in prepared strawberry puree.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours.

Set up ice cream machine or attachment. With machine running on the lowest speed, pour in chilled ice cream mixture.