Strawberry Ginger Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups lactose-free half and half (or 1 cup heavy cream + 1 cup whole milk)

1/2 cup (200 grams) sugar

1/3 cup (118 mL) corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup (236 mL) kefir

1.2 ounce (34 grams) freeze-dried strawberries, ground to powder in food processor or blender

2 tablespoons rum (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water. Place a medium mixing bowl fitted with a fine mesh strainer inside the ice bath.
2. Heat half and half, sugar, corn syrup, and salt at medium heat until it begins to steam, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and add ginger. Cover and let steep for 1 hour.
4. Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl. Slowly add 1 cup of heated cream mixture into egg yolks, whisking constantly.
5. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the cream mixture and return to stove.
6. Cook at medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 F on an instant-read thermometer). Do not allow custard to boil!
7. Remove custard from heat and immediately pour through fine mesh strainer into the bowl over the ice bath.
8. Add vanilla and rum to custard and stir. Allow custard to cool for five minutes.
9. Add kefir to custard and stir.
10. Add powdered strawberries to custard and stir.
11. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap pressed directly over the surface of your custard. Place custard in refrigerator and chill until cold (I leave mine overnight).
12. Make ice cream according to ice cream machine instructions.
13. Serve immediately as soft serve ice cream. For a firmer consistency, freeze for a few hours before serving.

About this recipe

I know it’s not a traditional flavor, but I am kind of obsessed with the combination of strawberries and ginger!

I did a lot of research before developing this ice cream, and I’m happy with how it turned out. I used freeze-dried strawberries to get lots of strawberry flavor without compromising the ice cream texture. Freeze-dried strawberries are strawberries with the water removed, which is exactly what we want for ice cream. The more water in your ice cream, the icier it is. I wanted a smooth, creamy ice cream, not one with chunks of strawberry ice in it. To give this ice cream a fresh, bright flavor, I used kefir, which tastes similar to buttermilk but is naturally lactose-free 🙌🏿