Lemon Curd Ice Cream

YUM!!!!

This could just be called lemon ice cream, but it reminded me so much of lemon curd, which I love, love, love! A friend had a BUNCH of lemons she didn't want so when a friend gives me lemons, I make ice cream (I don't care for lemonade-although I did have some delicious homemade lemonade this evening).

I used my favorite vanilla bean ice cream recipe and altered it to incorporate the lemons.

1 cup whole milk
A pinch of salt
¾ cup vanilla sugar *
1 tbsp lemon zest
½ cup lemon juice
4 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan until warm. Cover, remove from heat.

2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually pour some of the warm milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

6. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

* Used vanilla beans can be rinsed and dried, then stored in a bin of sugar to infuse the smell and flavor of vanilla into the sugar. I use vanilla sugar to add a hint of vanilla without the overpowering effects of vanilla extract and beans. This ice cream is a perfect example of how vanilla sugar can be used to compliment a flavor without being dominant. You could use regular sugar and add a drop or two of vanilla after the custard has been cooled in the cream.