This Strawberry Mint Ice Cream is a delicious and refreshing treat that can be made with fresh or frozen strawberries. If strawberries are in season, choose dark red ripe berries that are full of flavour.
If you make this dessert outside of strawberry season like I did, then use frozen berries which were probably picked and flash frozen at the peak of their season. I used peppermint tea to flavour the custard but if you had fresh peppermint in your garden that would be delicious as well!
I love the combination of mint and strawberry but don’t be afraid to experiment with other flavours like strawberry and basil or strawberry and lavender.
This ice cream recipe is lightly sweetened with raw honey and contains no stabilizers, preservatives, additives or food colouring like a lot of store bought strawberry ice creams do. Making homemade ice cream is so satisfying and feels like a real achievement. Try my homemade Chai Ice Cream and high protein Cottage Cheese "Ice Cream" as well! I love knowing every single ingredient that went into my ice cream.
Tips for Making The Best Ice Cream
- Purchase heavy cream that contains simple ingredients like cream and milk. Some store-bought creams have unnecessary extra ingredients like stabilizers or thickeners.
- Ensure that the freezer drum component of your ice cream maker has been in the freezer for a minimum of 24 hours. This step is crucial for a silky ice cream consistency. Ice cream will be icy if not properly churned.
- As you steep the tea bags in the mixture of cream, milk and honey, be sure to taste occasionally so you know when your base has reached your desired level of flavour. I find this takes between 5 and 10 minutes.
- I love sweetening ice cream with honey not only for its nutritional benefits over white sugar but also because honey provides a creamier texture to the ice cream and pairs beautifully with the strawberry and mint flavours. I recommend a good quality, local honey.
- In my opinion, the most difficult step of making ice cream is tempering the egg yolks before incorporating them into the warm cream mixture. Do this step really slowly to guarantee success.
- I recommend straining the custard before pouring it into the ice cream machine. This step filters out any bits of cooked egg yolk that may disrupt the texture of the creamy ice cream.
- Take your ice cream out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving to make scooping easier.
How Do I Make Strawberry Ice Cream?
Using a heavy bottomed saucepan such as a Dutch oven, gently warm the milk, cream and honey over medium-low heat. Stir until the honey is all melted. Add 3 tea bags of peppermint tea. Remove from heat and allow the tea bags to steep in the cream mixture. Taste occasionally and remove the tea bags when your base has reached the desired level of flavour.
Whisk the egg yolks separately in a small bowl. Very gradually, begin to whisk ½ cup of the warm (not hot) milk and cream mixture into the egg yolks to bring them up to temperature. (It’s important to do this step very slowly to ensure you don’t accidentally cook the egg yolks.) Pour the tempered yolk mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually for about 5-10 minutes until the mixture thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon.
Pour the custard through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps. Place the bowl in the fridge to cool for several hours or place the bowl over an ice bath and stir until the custard is cold. You want to ensure the custard is cold before pouring it into the ice cream machine.
To make the strawberry sauce: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the strawberries and honey over medium-low heat. Crush the strawberries with the back of a spoon and simmer the mixture for 5-10 minutes until thickened. You are looking for a consistency similar to jam. Transfer the strawberry sauce to a bowl and either place over an ice bath until very cold or store in the fridge to chill.
Time to churn the ice cream: Pour the cold custard and half of the strawberry sauce into the ice cream maker and churn the ice cream for 10-20 minutes until it resembles soft serve ice cream.
Transfer half of the ice cream into a freezer safe container and then add a layer of strawberry sauce. Swirl it through the custard gently with the end of a spoon. Add the rest of the ice cream and top with the final layer of strawberry sauce. Swirl gently again. Freeze the ice cream for a minimum of 4 hours.
When ready to serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer 10 minutes prior to serving to make scooping easier. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
It will look like soft serve ice cream and this takes about 15-20 minutes.
If you don’t want those egg whites to go to waste you should try my Sugar Free Granola Recipe. It uses egg whites to bind the ingredients together.
More Dessert Recipes to Enjoy
This Chai Tea Ice Cream is made with my absolute favourite tea: Bengal Spice Tea by Celestial Seasonings and is sweetened with honey.
Chocolate Covered Tahini Stuffed Dates
Tahini Stuffed Chocolate Covered Dates are going to be your new favourite treat! When you bite into one you’ll think you’re eating a chocolate bar.
Save Strawberry Mint Ice Cream to Pinterest
Strawberry Mint Ice Cream
Strawberry Mint Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup whole milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup raw honey
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 peppermint tea bags
- pinch of salt
Strawberry Sauce
- 2 cups whole strawberries
- 3 tbsp raw honey
Instructions
- Plan Ahead: Ensure the freezer drum component of your ice cream maker has been in the freezer for a minimum of 24 hours.
- Using a heavy bottomed saucepan such as a Dutch oven, gently warm the milk, cream and honey over medium-low heat.
- Stir until honey is all melted. Add 3 tea bags of peppermint tea. Remove from the heat and allow the tea bags to steep in the cream mixture. Taste occasionally and remove the tea bags when your base has reached the desired level of flavour.
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Whisk the egg yolks separately in a small bowl. Very gradually, begin to whisk ½ cup of the warm (not hot) milk and cream mixture into the egg yolks to bring them up to temperature. (It’s important to do this step very slowly to ensure you don’t accidentally cook the egg yolks.)
- Pour the tempered yolk mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually for about 5-10 minutes until the mixture thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon.
- Pour the custard through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps.
- Place the bowl in the fridge to cool for several hours or place the bowl over an ice bath and stir until the custard is cold. You want to ensure the custard is cold before pouring it into the ice cream machine.
- To make the strawberry sauce: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the strawberries and honey and heat on medium-low heat. Crush the strawberries with the back of a spoon and simmer the mixture for 5-10 minutes until it has thickened and has a consistency similar to jam. Transfer the strawberry sauce to a bowl and either place over an ice bath until very cold or store in the fridge to chill.
- Time to churn the ice cream: Pour the cold custard and half of the strawberry sauce into the ice cream maker and churn the ice cream for 10-20 minutes until it resembles soft serve ice cream.
- Transfer half of the ice cream into a freezer safe container. Add a layer of strawberry sauce and swirl it through gently with the end of a spoon. Add the rest of the ice cream and top with the final layer of strawberry sauce. Swirl again gently. Freeze the ice cream for a minimum of 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer 10 minutes prior to serving to make scooping easier. Enjoy!
Notes
- In my opinion, the most difficult step of making ice cream is tempering the egg yolks before incorporating them into the warm cream mixture. Do this step really slowly to guarantee success.
- I recommend straining the custard before pouring it into the ice cream machine. This step filters out any bits of cooked egg yolk that may disrupt the texture of the creamy ice cream.
- How do I know I’ve churned my ice cream for long enough? It will look like soft serve ice cream and this takes about 15 minutes.
- It’s best to enjoy homemade ice cream within several days of making it. Because homemade ice cream doesn’t contain a lot of stabilizers, it will begin to get icy after several days.
If you make this recipe please leave a comment and give this recipe a rating! I aim to respond to every single comment. I am so grateful when you trust me and try one of my recipe creations in your own kitchen. I love to hear how it went! Let’s connect on Instagram and tag me in your food pics!
‘Til next time,
Christy
Allison W says
This looks so beautiful, fresh and yummy!! I can't wait to try this, currenty saving up for an ice cream maker 🙂