Ice Cream with Strawberry Syrup & Fresh Strawberries

The moment warm weather returns, my kids tend to want to run outside barefoot, play under the sprinkler and cool off with a refreshing iced treat. Since I have to be careful about how much sugar and artificial colors my kids eat, I love to make my own homemade ice cream. That way, I can use less sugar add healthy ingredients, like in this recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream with a simple strawberry syrup and fresh strawberries like the delicious local strawberries at Weaver’s Orchard. Right now the strawberry picking is excellent – some of the best picking of the season!

I got an ice cream maker around the time of the covid pandemic when it wasn’t as easy to go out for ice cream. It’s been a great investment! My kids (ages 4 and 7) love to help too!

The first step is to make sure your ice cream maker bowl is in the coldest part of the freezer for at least 24 hours. At that point, you’ll also want to get out quart size jars to mix the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in so that the sugar has plenty of time to dissolve. Return the cream mixture to the fridge. I usually also put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before I am ready to make the ice cream. After the ice cream has churned for about 20 minutes, I quickly transfer it to a freezer-safe container for at least 2 hours until it’s more frozen. When it’s been in the freezer longer than 2 hours, it often needs to sit at room temperature for a few minutes before it can be scooped up.

Ice cream with strawberry syrup
Print

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon vanilla bean powder

Instructions

  1. Freeze the bowl of an ice cream maker for 24 hours.
  2. Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate, covered for at least one hour.
  3. Pour into the bowl of the ice cream maker. Turn ice cream maker on for 15-20 minutes. It will be done when the ice cream no longer appears to be liquidy or spinning much.
  4. Serve with fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup for best results transfer to a freezer-safe container for 2 hours to freeze further. Leftovers can be frozen. It may need to sit out at room temperature for a few minutes to be ready to scoop.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Print

Strawberry Syrup

  • Author: Rachel VanDuzer
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 7 min
  • Total Time: 17 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 68 Tbsp granulated sugar or honey to taste
  • 4 Tbsp water, divided
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

  • In a medium sauce pan, bring strawberries, lemon juice, sugar or honey and 2 Tbsp water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
  • Reduce heat slightly and allow to boil until strawberries have softened, about 5 – 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • In a small bowl, make a slurry by whisking together remaining 2 Tbsp water and cornstarch until smooth.
  • Pour cornstarch slurry into the strawberry mixture and boil, stirring constantly, 1 minute. 
  • Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 3 days. Pour on ice cream once cool.

Notes

If desired, you can blend the syrup until it’s smooth. Be sure to use an immersion blender or wait until the syrup is cool because it’s not safe to put hot items in a blender.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!