When the cooking gods are against you…

Do you ever have high hopes when making a new recipe only to find that the cooking gods are out to get you? That was the case with this recipe. I was very excited to try this recipe because strawberry ice cream is my absolute favorite. I had great success with my first ice cream recipe and wouldn’t you know it was a flavor that I don’t even eat! I prepped my strawberries just like the recipe said, had my milk, cream and sugar all mixed together and then I pulled my ice cream maker out of the freezer.That’s when all the trouble began.

I attached it to my Kitchen Aid mixer just like I had the day before and turned it on, prepared to pour in the cream mixture. As I slowly started pouring I noticed that my mixer was making a funny noise. And then the part that rotates the dasher in the ice cream maker sort of came off! Now anyone that has made ice cream knows that once you pour your ingredients in, time is not on your side. They start to freeze almost immediately. I struggled to get the attachments back together but by that time the inside of the ice cream maker was too frozen over with cream to get it going again. At this point I was beyond irritated. I poured the cream mixture back into my mixing bowl and stuck that and the strawberries in the fridge. I thought maybe I could try again today once my ice cream maker re-froze. My husband inspected my mixer and noticed that the pin was coming out which most likely lead to the ice cream maker malfunction. Luckily he was able to fix it.

Well I got up this morning, very optimistic that I was going to make some delicious strawberry ice cream and everything went great to begin with. It looked like strawberry ice cream, but when it came time to taste it, the strawberries tasted weird. I think it’s because I let them sit over night in the sugar and lemon juice. The ice cream part tasted good so it was unfortunate that the strawberries weren’t good. I will try this recipe again and hopefully I will get better results. I’m sure in this case it was the circumstances and not the recipe.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced

3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup sugar, divided

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar; stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours.

In another bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, the vanilla and any accumulated juices from the strawberries.

Turn on your ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the frozen bowl. Let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes. Add the sliced strawberries during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Ice cream will be soft at this point. For a firmer ice cream, transfer to an airtight container and store in freezer until it has reached your desired consistency.

Source: Annie’s Eats (Adapted from Sweet and Savory Eats)