Strawberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

To make the strawberry sauce, take a package of ever-so-ripe strawberries and cut them all up. Try not to eat them all. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the berries and then toss them with a cup of sugar. Let them sit and get nice and juicy for a while you make the ice cream.

For the ice cream, start by scraping out the inside of a vanilla bean. Make a slit along the bean, then use the tip of the knife to (carefully!) scoop out all the vanilla deliciousness. Put aside. You could just use vanilla extract, but this is SO much better. Trust me.

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl for a couple of minutes, until light and fluffy, then add in the sugar, little by little, whisking all together. Add in the decadent, evil heavy cream, and the sinister, wicked WHOLE milk (yes I used whole). And throw in all that vanilla bean inner goodness. Mix together well.

Now it’s time to power up that ice cream maker. I have your standard Cuisinart ice cream maker, which is basic enough for a five year old to use. All you have to remember to do is freeze the bowl a day beforehand, then dump in your ice cream mixture and flip the switch. Let it run for a good 30 to 45 minutes. I let mine run for almost 30 and I found myself wishing I had left it in a bit longer to get a creamier texture.

Now while you let the ice cream do its thing, it’s time to finish that delicious strawberry swirl. Take the bowl of strawberries and dump it all in your food processor. Or blender. Or use one of those cool hand stick blenders that are so popular right now. Whatever floats your boat. Blend well.

When your ice cream looks about done, it’s time to swirl in the strawberry goodness. Transfer your ice cream to a freezer safe container. Then take a swizzle stick (or chopstick, like I did) and slowly pour the sauce into the ice cream batch by batch. use the stick to make a cool-looking swirl pattern. When you like what you see, stop, drop and freeze!

Try to have enough patience to let it set for a few hours. Or you could be like me and eat it half soup-y, half frozen. I won’t judge you.