Strawberry Icecream

Summers are for fun, food and ice creams! As a kid, my dad used to stock up on ice creams all through my summer vacation. It was such a nice time. My mom would love making different desserts using the same ice creams. Be it ice cream soda, or fruit cream or just freaky ice cream shakes, I loved them all!! No wonder I was a chubby kid! :D

Well the chubbiness hasn't gone completely but the habit of stocking up ice creams is still intact. My husband and my baby are ice cream lovers too. Strawberry being the house favorite flavor! After moving to California, one of the best fruits I binge on in summers is Strawberry. The state is the top producer of strawberries in the US. And the hot weather makes the berries so sweet and juicy. But you have to be selective when buying a box of strawberries. The darker the color, the more ripe and sweet are the strawberries. And the more ripe they are, the lesser shelf life they would have. It's a highly perishable fruit. The sweetest of strawberries come in the market after a heat wave. The sun ripened strawberries are the best.

So this summer(2020), due to COVID-19, we order our groceries online and don't have the option to be selective. Unfortunately, the box of strawberries which we got had mostly sour ones. So I thought of making a strawberry sauce with it by boiling all the strawberry pieces with sugar and then blending the mixture. The sauce got converted to ice cream! Rest is history!

This ice cream recipe is a very simple 3 ingredient recipe. I have used sweetened condensed milk with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. You can make multiple flavored ice creams with the same recipe. Just swap the strawberry sauce with your choice of fruit pulp or flavoring. The condensed milk is made at home, and there is a very easy hack for it. Read the method to find out what it is! So lets start blending!!

Ingredients:

Heavy whipped cream- 2 cups

Sweetened condensed milk- 1 cup (Milk + sugar + a pinch of baking soda)

Strawberries- 2 cups (Diced)

Sugar- 1/4 cup

Method: 1. In a sauce pan, add strawberries and sugar and heat on medium flame for 8-10 min or until the strawberries become very soft and the sugar is completely dissolved.

2. Take it off flame and cool the mixture. Blend it smooth with a blender.

3. For making condensed milk at home- In a heavy bottom wide pan, add 2 cups full fat milk and boil it until it reduces to 1/3rd the original quantity. Now add 1/2 cup sugar and keep stirring. Add a pinch of baking soda and cook for another 5-10 min. When the mixture is thick, take it off heat and let it cool completely.

4. Take chilled heavy whipping cream in a bowl and whisk it until stiff peaks are formed. (It is very important to use cold whipping cream otherwise it will release butter while whisking).

5. Now add whipping cream, strawberry puree and condensed milk and mix them well.

6. Pour in an air tight container and freeze it for 3 hours.

Ready to freeze and after 3 hours consistency.

7. After 3 hours, take it out and give it a good mix again with a fork.

8. Now freeze it for 5-6 hours and enjoy the creamy dessert whenever you like!

This is an easy ice cream recipe without using ice cream maker. Engage your spouse, kids or family while making this ice cream and I am sure you all will have fun :)