Lemon Ice Cream

As summer emits its last gasp, I’m trying to make the most of my beloved ice cream maker. New England seems to already have turned the corner from hazy summer to early fall. Those of you in more southerly climes probably can’t imagine how quickly and sharply the seasons turn the corner up here; one can literally go from all shorts and tee shirts to sweaters and fleece in the space of a fortnight.

I’d say I’m envious of those in warmer climes, but I’m actually looking forward to breaking out my cozy sweaters, plaid skirts, and tights. I always feel that way for about the first two weeks’ worth of chilly weather – and then I long for summer.

Since lemons are seasonal to winter, those of you in the very far south (hello, Florida!) could make this a year-round delight. It’s delicious – sweet-tart, lemony, and smooth as velvet on the palate. Usually, I prefer my ice cream with lots of add-ins, but this is simple perfection that requires no embellishment to delight.

Vanilla Malt Ice Cream with Almond Butter Swirl

Apparently, we just had the hottest month ever recorded here in Connecticut. Usually, I scoff and pish at those who whine about New England’s meager heat and humidity, but July was excessive even by my standards. I fear this means I’m getting soft. I’ve been up here for over six years now; perhaps it’s impacted my capacity to distinguish oppressive heat from the merely uncomfortable.

Ice cream is lovely on either type of summer day. This is a delicious, rich vanilla ice cream spiked with malted milk powder and a creamy almond butter swirl. I think it’s my favorite of the ice cream recipes I’ve made so far. Words are inadequate to the task of conveying how perfectly the flavors of vanilla, malt, and almond complement one another. It’s like ice cream: the religious experience.

I would therefore be remiss if I failed to share the recipe.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Husband was kind enough to buy me an ice cream maker for my birthday. A more cynical person might wonder if this were an entirely disinterested purchase, but I had placed it on my amazon wishlist and lobbied hard for its purchase, so I’m willing to let him off the hook.

The nice thing about homemade ice cream is that it’s actually kind of hard to screw up. For example, I enjoy the richness that tempered egg yolks lend to ice cream. Unfortunately, for my first batch, I tried to use frozen egg yolks leftover from my recent angel food cake that were insufficiently thawed. Instead of incorporating neatly into my milk and cream mixture, yolk bits floated to the surface in ugly yellow clumps. I strained them out, and no one was the wiser – though I’m sure you’ll understand that I want to try again before sharing the first ice cream recipe (which was peanut butter chocolate swirl) with the world. The strained product was still ridiculously tasty.

This time, I used fresh eggs, and let me just say that it made a difference.