“You can`t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream…and that’s kind of the same thing”

The earliest memories of ice cream are the softy cones that I remember having in T.Nagar on the footpath. Soft, sweet, melting, creamy and cold, and stuffed hurriedly in to crisp cones. The exhaustion of the 2 mile walk to get there, the sweltering heat, the jostling crowds are all forgotten for a few dreamy minutes, licking on cold cold ice cream. I remember graduating to the more “pricey” Kwality Walls Chocobars at college and during my post grad days. Something still pulls me to the softy cones in T.Nagar! This trip when we visited India, I simply loved the Naturals Ice Cream that I tasted with my sister S at HSR Layout in Bangalore. My favourite of them all was “Jackfruit” and of course “Tender Coconut”. I  loved the tender coconut ice cream with pieces of tender coconut in each and every scoop! My favourite ice cream  has been the ones at Ted Drew`s in St.Louis, Missouri. We loved to drive there and order their “concrete” which was so thick, that they would serve it upside down sometimes!  I had been wanting to try out my own whacky combinations and recently invested in the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker Attachment. No, its not just another gadget that’s gonna sit on the that top shelf above the refrigerator. This gives me pure creamy tasty ice creams, which I can make with ingredients on hand, and no preservatives or additives.

Today`s recipe is from this amazing book called  Jeni`s Splendid Ice Creams at Home ,  that uses no eggs but a secret ingredient – Cream Cheese! Her methods are very different and bring out the intermingling flavours very well.

INGREDIENTS:

15 Ripe Strawberries sliced.

1/4 Cup Sugar.

3 Tbsp Lemon Juice.

11/2 Cups 2% Milk.

2 Tbsp Corn Starch / Custard Powder.

4 Tbsp Softened Cream Cheese.

1/8 Tsp Sea Salt.

1 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream.

3/4 Cup Sugar.

2 Tbsp Corn Sugar.

1/4 Cup Buttermilk.

PREPARATION:

• Preheat the oven to 375F.  Combine the sugar and the sliced strawberries and bake for about 8-10 mins until softened. When cooled, puree with lemon juice. No need to add any water.

• Mix 2 Tbsp of milk with the custard powder and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl cream together the room temperature cream cheese and salt. Set aside.
• In a sauce pan, add the remaining milk. cream, sugar and corn syrup and bring to a rolling boil and keep it that way for about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the milk+cornstarch mixture.
• Bring back to medium low on the stove and boil until slightly thickened.  Set aside.
• Slowly pour this thickened milk mixture in to the cream cheese bowl and incorporate. Add the pureed strawberries and the buttermilk and blend well.
• Create an ice bath with ice cubes and chilled water and keep ready. Pour this ice cream mix in to a gallon ziploc bag, seal it and place in the ice bath.
• 
• Now pour this cooled ice cream mixture in to the chilled ice cream container or as per directions given.
• Churn for about 20-25 minutes until thick and creamy!
• Transfer in to a storage container and freeze for about 4-5 hours.
• Remove from freezer and thaw for about 5 minutes before serving fresh creamy strawberry Ice Cream.