Strawberry Ice Cream

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream 
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen
Makes about 1 ½ quarts

We just returned from a really fun vacation trip to South Carolina with our friends, Bob and Debbie. We stayed in a cabin right on the beach. I packed our ice cream maker because we knew that it was strawberry season down there. We bought local strawberries at a farm stand on the way to the cabin and ate them for breakfast every morning. I made Rhubarb Crisp one evening and Debbie used my ice cream maker to make this yummy ice cream with some of the berries we purchased to put on top of our warm crisp. When we returned from our trip, we were glad to see that our strawberry patch is in full bloom. I will say that our patch won’t have enough berries to suit our needs or the critters’ needs. Lost River Market & Deli has strawberries right now and when the local berries are ripe, they’ll have those too. This is especially easy to make because there’s no cooking involved, so let the kids help with this one!

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed and coarsely chopped, plus extra for garnish

In a bowl, combine the cream and the milk. Add the sugar and salt. Whisk until the sugar begins to dissolve. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside, stirring occasionally, to allow the flavors to blend, about 15 minutes.
Cover and refrigerate the mixture until chilled, at least 3 hours or over night.
In a bowl, using a fork or potato masher, mash half of the chopped strawberries; they should break down into small chunks. (Larger chunks will turn too hard when frozen.) Add the remaining coarsely chopped berries to the bowl. Cover and refrigerate the strawberries for about 1 hour.
Pour the milk mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When nearly frozen and the consistency of thick whipped cream, add the strawberries. Churn or stir until just blended. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. (Before sealing with a lid, press plastic wrap onto the ice cream to prevent freezer burn.) Freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving. If desired, garnish with additional strawberries before serving.
*Serve on top of Rhubarb Crisp for a deliciously pretty pink treat!