Lemon Ice Cream
Years ago, when Bruce was testing recipes for The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, I almost came undone over this one. "Oh my God," I said, "you finally came up with a way to get butter into ice cream." (Maybe that's why the book is cresting half a million copies in print.)
Listen, butter is a spiritual experience. So to get it into ice cream, it's like some Dantean mystic rose unfolding in the kitchen. You think I overstate? Here's this technique: make a lemon curd, fold in cream, and freeze in an ice cream maker.
Brace yourself.
First, set up a double boiler over the heat with about an inch of simmering water in the bottom part, or bring the same amount of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. In the top half of the double boiler or in a medium bowl that will fit securely over the saucepan, combine 2 whole eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Reduce the heat to low so the water simmers very slowly, then beat the mixture in the top half or the bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed--or if you're Bruce, with a whisk, the old-fashioned way. (Hey, if he wants to be a martyr for tradition over the stove on a hot summer day, it's his business.)
Keep beating, scraping down the sides of the top half of the double boiler or the bowl occasionally with a heat-safe spatula. After 10 to 15 minutes, the mixture will have thickened to a luscious, rich curd.
Turn off the heat, then remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl. (Watch out for any escaping steam which can give you a nasty burn.) Stir in 2 cups light cream (light--oh, right: so now I'll only have to spend two years on a crosstrainer, not three) as well as 1 teaspoon lemon extract (available in the spice aisle next to the vanilla extract). Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The mixture may thicken up even more overnight--stir it down, then pour it into an ice cream maker, following the directions for your machine. Freeze and, in my opinion, eat immediately. If you want, you can also store it in a sealable container in the freezer for a few days. But if you do, you're probably also the type who uses a whisk over the heat in the summer--or cotton swabs to clean the baseboards in your bathroom. If so, we're probably already married. Unless there's more than one Bruce running around.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 10:23AM | in Fabulously Empty Calories, Frozen Treats frozen desserts, ice cream, lemons
Reader Comments (2)
I get a request for this ice cream (from the Ulitmate book) from my mom everytime she visits me (about twice/yr)--it is an incredibly rich and smooth bowl of deliciousness. Lemon sherbet and lemon sorbet have been done ad nauseum, but lemon ice cream is (to me, anyway) relatively undiscovered by the masses. And I'm not sure why. Lemon squares are tasty, but quite well known. Ditto for lemon meringue pie. The flavor of lemon is quite popular that it remains a mystery to me why lemon ice cream isn't more common.
Petra:
I think it's because lemon can curdle the milk fat (as in the cream)--so something has to be done to it before it can be made into an ice cream (as here, cooked into a curd and coated in fat). But that little bit of effort does change things a bit--or make them a little more complicated. Maybe that's why it's not so common. But boy, did everyone suck it down when Bruce made it.
M.