Homemade Strawberry Mint Ice Cream is made with wholesome ingredients such as whole milk, cream, and raw honey, combined with the sweetness of ripe strawberries. Making this creamy dessert at home is not only fun but also incredibly rewarding. The best part? You'll love knowing every single ingredient that went into making this ice cream. Plus, it's a fantastic way to enjoy the nutritious powerhouse that egg yolks offer.
If you're lucky enough to have strawberries in season, opt for dark red, ripe berries bursting with flavor. However, if you're like me and craving ice cream outside of strawberry season, frozen berries are the way to go (frozen berries are typically picked at flash frozen at the peak of their season). I used peppermint tea to flavor 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 enjoy experimenting with other flavors like strawberry and basil or strawberry and lavender. No matter what herbal combination you choose it'll taste like summer in every spoonful.
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!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Naturally sweetened with honey
- Wholesome ingredients
- A great go-to recipe when strawberries are in season
- By preparing this ice cream at home, you can avoid artificial additives and preservatives commonly found in store-bought ice cream
- A great way to enjoy the nourishment of egg yolks
- Making homemade ice cream is fun and rewarding!
Ingredients
- Heavy cream - check the ingredients on the cream you purchase. It shouldn't contain any stabilizers or additives.
- Honey - raw honey serves as a natural sweetener, but it also imparts a distinct flavor to the ice cream that white sugar doesn't have.
- Egg yolks - from large eggs.
- Peppermint tea bags - or a bundle of fresh peppermint from your garden.
- Salt - just a pinch! It enhances the sweetness of the ice cream.
- Strawberries - look for extra red berries that are nice and plump!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Instead of raw honey, you can use maple syrup, agave nectar, or granulated sugar as sweeteners.
- Swap the mint for other fresh herbs like basil, thyme, lavender or rosemary to create intriguing herbal-infused ice cream flavors.
- Crush some homemade or store-bought cookies and fold them into the ice cream for a recipe reminiscent of strawberry shortcake.
- Before serving, consider topping the ice cream with fresh fruit slices, whipped cream, or a drizzle of honey.
- Add a touch of freshness by grating some citrus zest (orange, lemon, or lime) into the custard base.
I have not experimented with any other substitutions or alterations for this recipe. If you decide to make any changes by adding or substituting ingredients, I would love it if you could share your results with us by leaving a comment below.
How To Make Strawberry Ice Cream
Here are the step-by-step instructions to make this recipe.
Step 1: Make the custard
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.
Step 2: 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.
Step 3: 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.
Step 4: Begin to layer the ice cream and the strawberry sauce.
Transfer half of the ice cream into a freezer safe container.
Step 5: Begin to layer the ice cream and the strawberry sauce.
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.
Step 6: Serve ice cream.
When ready to serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer 10 minutes prior to serving to make scooping easier. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- 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 flavor. 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 flavors. 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.
Recipe FAQs
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.
Tempering egg yolks is essential to avoid curdling or cooking the yolks when adding them to the hot cream mixture. Slowly adding a bit of warm liquid to the yolks while whisking helps bring them to a higher temperature gradually.
Storage
Freezer
Store in the freezer in an airtight container and enjoy within the week for the best consistency. Homemade ice cream will begin to get icy after a long time in the freezer because it doesn't contain any stabilizers.
If you tried this Homemade Strawberry Mint Ice Cream Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
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.
Nutrition
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 🙂