Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

I have to admit that I used to hate Strawberry Ice Cream. I think it always tasted so fake to me so I avoid it. I would eat it in a Napoleon ice cream bar or something but it was only because it was only 1/3 of it.

 

Since I had a massive load of strawberries I decided I should try making strawberry ice cream and see if I like it better when I control the quality of the ingredients. Since I also had a huge bunch of mint I decided I would add that to the ice cream as well. Why not? I can do whatever I want. (I also made mint chocolate chip ice cream which was a total failure, but that’s another story)

 

The ice cream is sweet, creamy, and flavorful with the strawberries and the mint. I really enjoyed this ice cream since i love the fresh flavors in sorbet so the addition of cream didn’t seem that different to me. The mint adds a nice touch to the strawberries. If you don’t like mint that much than you could cut back and use less. Or pull some out before blending. I just love the flavor of mint and strawberry and I loved the specks of green in it so I kept it in there prior to blending.

 

Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

1 lb of strawberries

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup mint leaves

1 vanilla pod, split for the beans

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

Wash, destem, and slice strawberries.

In a medium pot, combine the strawberries, sugar, whole milk, mint, and vanilla beans. Simmer for 5 minutes. Blend mixture in blender until completely smooth. Strain blended mixture.

Chill blended mixture until completely cold, at least 2 hours, but preferably over night.

Measure 2 1/2 cups of the blended mixture*, add the heavy cream and remaining whole milk to mixture.

Prepare ice cream according to manufacture’s instructions. For a soft serve consistency, serve immediately or freeze for a harder consistency.

*Instead of discarding the extra strawberry mixtures, you could add a bit of it to milk for flavored milk.