Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe
This strawberry cheesecake ice cream recipe is rich with a custard base and layered with graham crackers and strawberry preserves for the perfect scoop!
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Whisk the egg yolks with half of the sugar (you can eyeball half) in a large heat-resistant bowl until the yolks pale.6 large egg yolks, 205 grams granulated sugar
- Add the strawberry cream cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt, and the remaining sugar to a large saucepan. Stir over low-medium to medium heat until all the cream cheese has melted.225 grams strawberry cream cheese, 675 mL heavy cream, 225 mL whole milk, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 205 grams granulated sugar
- Once the cream cheese mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and temper the egg yolks. While continuously whisking, slowly pour about a cup of the cream cheese mixture into the egg yolk mixture set aside earlier.
- Once the portion of the cream cheese mixture has been completely whisked in, repeat the process. Continue adding the hot cream cheese mixture slowly in 1-2 cup increments until all of it has been incorporated with the egg yolks.
- Once all the cream cheese mixture has been incorporated with the egg yolks, return the mixture to the saucepan and, over low-medium heat, continue stirring with a spatula until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula well as shown here.
- Pour the thickened custard into a heat-resistant bowl through a fine-meshed strainer. There should only be strawberry seeds. If you see a large amount of white/yellowish clumps and the strained custard seems watery, this means that the yolks likely overcooked and the custard curdled. This will not make a good ice cream; you'll have to start over.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, then cover with plastic wrap, pressing it to the surface of the custard to prevent any condensation.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Refrigerate for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight for the custard to set and thicken.
- After 6 hours in the refrigerator, pour the refrigerated custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's recommendations (it takes about 30 minutes in my Whynter ice cream maker). The ice cream should have the consistency of soft serve when ready. Be careful not to over-churn it since it will become butter.
- Layer the ice cream in your chosen container with dollops of strawberry preserves and broken/crushed graham crackers. Repeat the layering until everything has been used up.Larger chunks of graham crackers will take longer to soften.110 grams strawberry preserves, 4 sheets graham crackers
- Cover the top of the ice cream with a piece of parchment paper to prevent freezer burn and allow it to rest in the freezer for at least an hour before scooping.
The bowl should be large enough to eventually hold all the custard.
To make this easier, you can either recruit someone to help. One person can pour the cream cheese mixture while the other whisks.If you're solo and your bowl doesn't have a non-slip bottom, use a piece of cabinet/drawer liner to prevent the bowl from moving around as you whisk.
Be careful not to boil the mixture and to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir so the yolks don't overcook and spoil the custard.
If using a freezer bowl ice cream maker, it helps to churn the ice cream in a cool place and/or cover it with a kitchen towel.
Nutrition
Notes
- Go slow with the custard and be patient. If you turn the heat up to get the custard to thicken faster, you run the risk of curdling the egg yolks.
- Cut up pieces of your favorite cheesecake and layer them into the ice cream for an even more indulgent scoop. When I do this, I typically use 1-2 slices from the Cheesecake Factory or even a store-bought cheesecake.