Like a lot of gardeners this year, I have been enjoying a bumper crop of strawberries. I only have one everbearing strawberry plant, so I’m used to picking maybe 5 a week during the harvesting periods. But, this year has been a different story & I have been gathering about 10-15 strawberries a day so far. What’s a gardener to do with such heavy, daily strawberry hauls? Make strawberry ice cream, that’s what. Is there a better way to welcome in the summer than by making strawberry ice cream? No, there’s not. Read on for my recipe for fresh strawberry ice cream.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh strawberries (hulled)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 cups half & half
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 t vanilla extract
Method:
- Mash the strawberries with a fork in a large bowl. Mix in sugar.
- Add in half & half, whipping cream & vanilla to the strawberry mash. Mix well.
- Pour mixture into ice cream maker & follow the manufacturer’s directions in regards to how long to mix your ice cream.
- Enjoy!
Tips:
- My ice cream maker makes soft serve ice cream in 20-40 minutes. I place my soft serve ice cream mixtures in the freezer overnight if I want to get a thicker traditional ice cream texture. Your results will vary depending on your ice cream maker.
- Add in other fruit like mixed berries, bananas, melons, etc.
- Add pink food coloring for a brighter pink color.
I have a few fond memories of going berry picking at my neighbor’s house when I was a little kid. It felt so magical picking basketfuls of delicious berries & taking them home. But alas, I only have the one strawberry plant & one grape plant as far as fruits are concerned. Needless to say, I’m not harvesting basketfuls of berries over here. I’d like to though, but I would really need to step up my fruit growing game. I would like to one day have my own mixed berry garden with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries & gooseberries. But for now, I’m enjoying my strawberry feasts.
I guess I should have realized I was in for a huge strawberry haul when I noticed how many buds my Ft. Laramie Strawberry plant was putting on in the spring. But I just wasn’t used to having such a productive plant, so I didn’t make the connection. The buds turned into flowers & soon the plant was just absolutely loaded with pretty white flowers. The fruit wasn’t far behind & we’ve been feasting on strawberries for a couple of weeks now.
I definitely recommend growing your own strawberries, if you aren’t growing them already. It’s a super easy plant to take care of, so much so that it takes care of itself really. I water it about 1-2 times a week if we don’t get a lot of rain. Critters love strawberries though, so I suggest you come up with a defense strategy before you get to planting. Netting works great, but we have also had a lot of success placing chili flakes around our fruits & veggies. We mostly deal with squirrels & chipmunks here, so keep that in mind. That’s about it though. Strawberries are really one of the easiest plants I have ever grown & they are perennials here, so they come back year & year unlike the veggies in my victory garden. They are fantastic to grow in containers too, like hanging baskets for quick on the go harvests. What’s stopping you? Get to planting your own strawberries so you can whip up your own batch of homegrown strawberry ice cream.
Like this article? Read my recipe for Basil Limeade with Strawberries.
The Plantiful Gardener 