Recipe :: Jeni's Lemon Cream Ice Cream

As a graduate of Ohio State University, I spent four years of my life exploring the Midwestern city of Columbus, OH. The second year of school my mom took me to a new ice cream stand she had heard about in our local market, and this stand ended up being owned by the infamous Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Since then Jeni has opened sixteen brick and mortar shops across the Midwest, sells her artistic flavors such as Queen City Cayenne, Wild Berry Lavender, and Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries at fine grocers nationwide, and published a best-selling cookbook. I picked up her book, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, for my mom a few years ago and I have to say, if you love ice cream and have any sort of desire to make it at home you MUST buy this!

My mom has cooked her way through Jeni's cookbook in which she literally breaks down each of her flavors to an exact science {you will learn more about ice cream than you ever knew was possible}. I was nervous to try to recreate one of her flavors, worried that there was no way the ice cream could turn out as delicious as the real thing...but was I ever wrong! It is literally the creamiest, most indulgent, creative ice cream I have ever eaten.

This past Sunday I went home to find my mom making a batch of Lemon Cream Ice Cream, and as expected it was absolutely fabulous. The perfect combination of sweet and tart, it was a refreshing spring treat served with fresh berries {and if you have homemade shortcake, even better!}  I loved the recipe so much I just had to share it with you all :)

Lemon Cream Ice Cream (recipe via Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)

Makes about 1 quart

LEMON SYRUP INGREDIENTS

2-3 lemons

2 tablespoons sugar

ICE CREAM BASE INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1.5 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Zest of 2-lemons (reserved from above)

INSTRUCTIONS

Prep for the lemon syrup: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 2 of the lemons in large strips; reserve. Halve the lemons and squeeze enough juice to make 1/2 cup. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until chilled. This won't be a very thick syrup. 

Prep for the ice cream base: Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. 

Cook: Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and lemon zest in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes -- watch it closely and stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't boil over. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. 

Chill: Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. 

Freeze: Remove the lemon zest. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and turn on the machine. Pour the lemon syrup through the opening in the top of the machine, and continue to spin the ice cream until thick and creamy.   Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, about 4 hours.  Enjoy!