Strawberry ripple and shortbread ice cream

Happy, happy Wednesday friends!  Life has been a little quiet around here for us lately, which has actually been really nice. Quiet in that we haven't done much aside from work - caught up with a few friends, occasionally left the house, you know how how it is. We spend most of our time head down, butt up, working hard to play catch-up now that design week has finished. We are back in a nice routine - up at 6 every morning, a day of work, then in bed nice and early. Rinse and repeat. It's important for me to keep a pretty strict routine otherwise my old friend homesickness will bite me in the butt. We are also coming up on 9 weeks of fostering a mama and her 5 kittens, who are slowly being adopted out to forever homes! We got them when they were 3 days old, so to say I am attached is a bit of an understatement. It's equal parts heartbreaking and happy to see them go off to new homes! I'll miss them SO much, but it's been one of the most rewarding things ever to watch them grow from tiny little rescue worms to the cute little nuggets that they are now, ready to be big cats! I can't recommend it enough, if you have space in your home or time in your schedule to take in a foster, it's an amazing thing to do!

But let's talk about ice cream. Specifically, strawberry ripple and shortbread ice cream. I am somewhat of a newbie to making my own ice cream, but I can see how addictive it can be. The sky is literally your limit when it comes to flavour combinations, and it tastes so much better than the store bought version, particularly when you use fresh, seasonal ingredients. Strawberries are just starting to come into full swing here in NYC, so it made sense that they would be next on my list of ice cream additions! I love an ice cream that is interesting enough to be a dessert on its own, rather than just an accompaniment. So to help elevate the flavours and add a little texture, I added in some homemade shortbread. The crunch of the shortbread against the creamy vanilla ice cream base and the sweet strawberry ripple is pretty awesome if you ask me. This definitely isn't going to be the last time that I add cookies to ice cream. This would make the perfect summer dessert. Or anytime dessert. I had it for breakfast yesterday. It has fruit in it, so therefore it's healthy, right?! Right.

A few wee notes:

• I used an ice cream maker for this recipe. I recently purchased it (I got the attachment for my mixer) and was slightly skeptical to begin with, but i'm totally in love with it now! Ensure that you freeze the bowl overnight before making this. 
• I have included a recipe for a full batch of shortbread - you only use 200g of shortbread in this recipe, so if you were wanting to only make enough for the ice-cream, I would halve the recipe, which will make more than enough. However, shortbread tends to get eaten in the space of 24 hours around here (it's really good!), so I highly recommend making the full batch. You won't regret it. Promise.
• If you wanted to leave out the shortbread and just have a strawberry ripple ice-cream, that would work well too!
• I like to make the custard, strawberry sauce and shortbread the day before I churn the ice-cream just to make sure everything has had a chance to cool completely.
• Get the freshest, nicest looking strawberries you can. The strawberry really shines in this recipe, so making sure you have good ingredients will really help this!
• I made mine in a loaf tin, which tends to work best as when it comes to assembling the ice cream, you need to layer the ice cream and the strawberry sauce.

Strawberry ripple and shortbread ice cream

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Erin Clarkson
• Yield: Makes one quart (950ml) 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Strawberry ripple and shortbread ice cream

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Ice Cream base

• 4 large egg yolks
• ⅔ cup (135g) sugar
• 1 ½ cups (360ml) whole milk
• 1 Tbsp vanilla paste, or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy whipping cream

Shortbread

• 225g (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (125g) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 2 cups, minus 2 tablespoon (220g) flour
• 2 Tbsp (16g) Corn starch

Strawberry ripple

• 900g (2 lbs) fresh strawberries
• ½ cup (100g) sugar
• ½ cup (120ml) water

---

Instructions

ICE CREAM BASE

1. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk well until pale. Set aside. 
2. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the whole milk and vanilla paste. Warm until bubbles begin to form around the outer edge of the pot. Bring to a light simmer. Remove from the heat.
3. Pour half of the milk into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Whisk briskly until combined. This will temper the egg yolks and stop them from scrambling. 
4. Pour the milk yolk mixture back into the pot, and return to a low heat. Whisk constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon, and registers at 170˚f / 75˚c on a thermometer. 
5. Strain though a fine mesh strainer. Stir in the cream. Transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least two hours, or overnight.

SHORTBREAD

1. Preheat the oven to 150c/300f. Line two baking trays with parchment paper
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric mixer, beat the butter and icing sugar until pale. 
3. Add the flour and corn starch, and mix until combined. It will look crumbly to begin with, but the dough will soon come together. 
4. Shape into two square shaped logs. Cut slices off the logs and place onto the prepared trays, leaving room for spreading. Prick each shortbread twice with a fork. 
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, checking for doneness after 25 minutes. The shortbread will set up on cooling. Cool on a wire rack. 
6. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

1. Cut the tops off the strawberries, and cut them into quarters. Place in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add the sugar and water, and mix to combine. 
2. Heat over a medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Bring to the boil and cook for 10-12 minutes, breaking down the strawberries with the spoon as you stir. Continue to cook until the fruit has mostly broken down. 
3. Remove from the heat. Pass the fruit through a sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon to squeeze as much juice out as possible. Discard the solids.
4. Clean the pot, and return to the stove. Add the strained juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and syrupy. Transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge until completely chilled.

ICE CREAM CHURNING AND ASSEMBLY

1. Measure out 200g (7oz) of the shortbread. Chop roughly into small cubes.
2. Add the chilled custard mixture to the ice cream maker, and churn to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last two minutes, add the shortbread, ensuring that it is evenly distributed. Remove from the ice cream maker.
3. In a freezer safe container such as a loaf tin, layer a third of the shortbread ice cream. Top with half of the strawberry sauce, followed by the second third of the ice cream. Repeat the layering with the second half of the strawberry sauce and the last third of the ice cream. Smooth down with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Press a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper on the surface of the ice cream. Place in the freezer until solid, at least 6 hours. 
4. Stand for 5 minutes before serving to allow to soften slightly. Cover again with plastic or wax paper before returning to the freezer.

---

Notes

Ice cream base recipe from the kitchn