Today felt like summer - in the "wait a minute, what happened to spring?" kind of way. So, over lunch I pulled out my ice cream bible and made an ice cream base to freeze at dinner time. I had some lemon juice leftover from making lemon sorbet last weekend, and had been planning on making the Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet from the same book, but...When push came to shove, the minimal amount of cooking required for that recipe made the Super Lemon ice cream seem more attractive. (That, and, while I like the idea of a buttermilk-based sherbet, it takes a little mental 'working-up-to' that I just didn't have.) So, here we are. Still no Lemon Buttermilk, but with a truly Super Lemon Ice Cream that's delicious and super EASY to boot.
Just a note: I really love custard-based ice creams for their rich, creamy mouthfeel, but there are some lazy days that I just can't get myself excited about the cooking part. I always feel a little stress over whether today's going to be the day I scramble my custard, and some days the worry isn't worth it. That's when I love recipes like this one and the Peanut Butter Ice Cream in the same book...stick it in the blender for a few seconds, and you're done. Perfect.
Back to the how-to, pretty much straight from The Perfect Scoop:
Zest 2 clean lemon straight into your blender. Add 1/2 C sugar and blend until zest is very finely chopped. Then add 1/2 C lemon juice (freshly squeezed, of course) and blend until the sugar is dissolved. Finally, add 2 C half-and-half and a pinch of salt, blend one more time, and then refrigerate for at least an hour, or until you're ready to freeze. Easy-peasy!
I served mine with some strawberries that I chopped up and macerated with a bit of sugar while we ate dinner. I really liked the bit of sweet strawberries as a counterpoint to the rather tart ice cream.
I think this would be really good swirled together with Raspberry Sorbet, or maybe with graham cracker crust and whipped cream (or marshmallow sauce?) swirled in and then topped with the strawberries (ice cream pie, anyone?) Also, I'm thinking I'm going to try this in a decadent strawberry shortcake at some point this summer. Yup...an easy, yummy ice cream with lots of potential variations. Lovely.
