This easy homemade strawberry ice cream gets added flavor from roasting fresh strawberries with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Vegetarian.
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I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a very adventurous ice cream eater.
Chocolate? Check. Mint Chocolate Chip? Check. This Butterscotch Ice Cream? Yes. Almost always.
Anything else? Eh. (You know that ice cream comes in chocolate, right?)
But even the most boring of ice cream eaters (–> points to self <–) has to venture into the creative ice cream world for a hot minute every once in awhile, right?
Fortunately, making ice cream is super fun, and (BONUS) it makes me feel fancy.
Also, being in Portland with family for a few weeks means extra taste testers! Which means even if I want to revert back to my boring chocolate ways after just a few bites of some new “hip” ice cream flavor, I have a whooooole house full of guinea pigs who will make sure nothing goes to waste.
SPEAKING of Portland, I promise to put up some photos soon (edit: here they are!) I’ve been decidedly MIA from the bloggity blog for awhile since I’ve been home, and I’d like to tell you its because I’ve been busy being suuuuper PDX hipster-y and living suuuuuuch an exciting life and drinking soooooo much delicious Oregon Beer that I haven’t even had the time to Twitterize about it.
But really, it’s just been one of those weeks that completely got away from me. You know the feeling?
Luckily, I have my favorite city and incredible summer produce and lots of sunshine to help me get back on track.
One of my faaaaaaavorite things about Oregon in the summertime is the amazing berries you get here – the berries in the Midwest and even New York just don’t compare.
For a time in high school, I worked weekends at a Portland Farmer’s Market stand selling cookies and produce for a local farm. It was a strange but kind of awesome job, and the best part was that our booth was right next to a strawberry stand. Meaning we could trade cookies for strawberries. Meaning I traded my whole staff cookie allocation for buckets and buckets and buckets of the freshest, sweetest summer strawberries in the world every weekend and ate nothing but strawberries all day long. (We all know how I feel about strawberries, right?)
That job was easily a decade ago (OMG WHEN DID I GET OLD) but it’s amazing how those food memories stick with you even when other things don’t. I can’t remember the name of the farm I worked for at that market or how much money I made, or even which of the bazillion Portland farmer’s markets is was. But I’ll never forget the taste of those strawberries.
This ice cream is a great way to celebrate those summer strawberries – particularly if you have some that aren’t looking so hot and need a little lovin’. Roasting the strawberries here brings out so much sweetness, and the balsamic vinegar is awesome. There’s just enough vinegar to balance out the sweetness of the berries, and it finishes every taste with just the right twinge of earthiness. Is “earthy” a weird way to describe ice cream? Whatever. I dig it.
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An easy balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream – perfect for strawberry season!
Ingredients
- 16 oz. fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into thick slices
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add strawberries and balsamic vinegar to a large bowl and toss to coat.
- Spread strawberries in a single layer on a large baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes until strawberries have shrunk and caramelized. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- When strawberries have cooled, place them in a small blender or food processor and puree until there are no large chunks left. Set puree aside.
- Combine milk and half and half in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk mixture occasionally to make sure milk doesn’t burn.
- While milk mixture heats up, combine egg yolks, vanilla extract, and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk vigorously for one to two minutes until ingredients are well mixed and egg yolks have lightened in color.
- When milk is at a simmer, remove pan from heat and temper the egg mixture by adding a tiny bit of hot milk at a time to the eggs while whisking constantly. Add a few tablespoons of hot liquid at a time, still whisking, until you’ve incorporated a little more than half of the hot mixture into the eggs.
- Pour the remaining hot milk mixture into the eggs and whisk to combine.
- Whisk strawberry puree into egg mixture.
- Return entire mixture to saucepan and return pan to the stove on low hear, stirring frequently, until the ice cream custard has thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon (like the photo in this post).
- Remove the thickened custard mixture from the stove and pour it into a large bowl (I generally use the same bowl I whisked the eggs in).
- Let ice cream sit on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to cool, then place the bowl uncovered in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let chill for 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Pour ice cream mix into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Notes
I like to puree my roasted strawberries for a smoother final texture, but feel free to leave them in large chunks if that’s what you prefer!
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