If you like easy summer desserts and cocktails, my strawberry and gin ice cream is for you. It tastes like summer holidays. Inspired by my recent trip to Italy where there almost as many gelateria as there are coffee shops, gelato is everyone’s favourite summer indulgence. There’s no shortage of flavours either. From peach bellini, avocado and pea or pale pink watermelon, vanilla and chocolate flavours are surpassed by imaginative concoctions and novel infusions.
I use this classic ice cream recipe as a base for any number of flavourings. There’s nothing better than in season fruits, a boozy splash and maybe some toasty nuts. Cherry bourbon, Mocha chocolate, Tiramisu and tart Limoncello curd are all delicious.
Gin has found its way from the cocktail trolley onto fashionable food tables and eateries everywhere. Lending itself easily to both savoury and sweet combinations, it pairs particularly well with fresh fruit. I’ve used strawberries here but in the late summer months, tart blackberries are so good. For the flavours to develop fully, the custard mixture needs to chill for at least six hours or overnight. It will also ensure that the ice cream is smooth and light in texture.
Strawberry and Gin Ice Cream
- 1 cup full cream milk
- 2 cups cream
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 5 egg yollks
Strawberry gin coulis
- 2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
- 1/3 cup (80ml) castor sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (60ml) gin
- Place the strawberries, castor sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
- Bring up to a boil and simmer on medium high for about 7 minutes.
- Blitz with an emersion blender until smooth. Stir through the gin and set aside to cool.
- To make the ice cream, pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. Add a quarter cup of sugar, vanilla pod and seeds.
- Bring the mixture up to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and discard the pod.
- Place the egg yolks and the remaining sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale and thick.
- Slowly add the warm cream to the yolks before pouring the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Cook over a medium heat, stirring all the while, until the cream is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Strain the custard into a bowl and cool for 30 minutes. Cover with cling film and chill overnight.
- Churn in an ice cream maker until firm.
- Spoon half the ice cream into a container. Drizzle with a third of the strawberry coulis.
- Repeat the layering once more then swirl through with a skewer.
- Cover and freeze for several hours.
- Serve with the remaining coulis on the side.
More dreamy ice cream treats:
Condensed milk coffee ice cream
Oreo peppermint crisp ice cream
Black sesame and liquorice ice cream
2 Comments. Leave new
Can vanilla extract be used instead of vanilla pod?
Hi Andrea. Vanilla extract is absolutely perfect. I’d use about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons extract.