You might remember from my last post that I was making strawberry ice cream for dessert. Well here it is and it turned out incredible. Of all the amazing ice cream out there this has to be one of my favorites. But then I am quite taken to the berry/chocolate/nut flavor combination. The recipe is based on a plain french vanilla, adding strawberry puree and some kitchen pantry extras, in fact I added so many things that I ended up with 2 batches, I couldn’t fit all of this in the frozen cylinder bowl, so that’s something to keep in mind, but no worries as the strawberry cream mixture will keep fine in the refrigerator for several days. If your berries are very sweet you can skip adding sugar to them.

Strawberry Ice Cream with Chocolate + Walnuts

3 eggs
1 cup sugar (plus 1 teaspoon for strawberries)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb fresh or frozen strawberries
1/2 cup raw walnuts, chopped
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Prepare the strawberries by mixing 1 teaspoon sugar with the berries in a large bowl, allow to sit for about 30 minutes, then rough puree them in a blender (about 2 seconds in a Vitamix) so that you still have some small pieces of strawberry in the puree.

In a large skillet toast the chopped walnuts with a pinch of salt over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, tossing frequently. Set aside and allow to cool.

Whisk together eggs and milk in large saucepan. Whisk in sugar gradually over low heat until it dissolves. Continue to stir until it thickens, about 10 minutes, the mixture should coat a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture in a large bowl and continue to stir for another minute or two (you can also do this over an ice bath so that it cools down quicker.) Strain the mixture into a large plastic container, allow to cool, then stir in strawberry puree, heavy cream and vanilla. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Use your ice cream maker as directed. My ice cream maker generally takes 20 minutes to freeze the cream mixture, at the 15 minute point (or when it’s nearly frozen) add the walnuts and the chocolate.

Note: Allow enough room in your cylinder for the ice cream to volumize as well as the addition of chocolate and nuts, I made this recipe in 2 batches.