Lemon Cream Cheese Ice cream - Churn & No Churn
Ice cream. A sweet creamy icey confection enjoyed by millions everyday. With 15.4 billion litres consumed annually around the world (thank you google), you can be certain that most people have a tub lurking somewhere in their freezer. And I think if we are totally honest with each other, there has been many a spoon consumed in moments of desperation and sorrow. Maybe it was a breakup.. and let’s be real, if anything 00’s films have taught us, it probably was. But when it really comes down to it, I prefer to think of this sweet treat as more of a summer and celebration food. Eaten on day trips during hot summer school holidays and devoured as an accompaniment to grand desserts around a warm and inviting family dining table. These are my memories.
Cheesecakes, fresh fruit salad and shop bought ice cream ‘bricks’ were the foundations of a well rounded dessert table at my aunt and uncle’s house. This fruit salad would always have passionfruit swirled through it, making something healthy taste like it should be in the ‘eat sparingly’ section of the food pyramid. Many fruit salads eaten years later with complete confusion at why they were so plain, only to realise (honestly, just this second) this ingredient was the defining factor. Cheesecake, always baked and never perfect, with volcano cracks across the top and an even dark golden colour. If you can think of a perfectly baked cheesecake that’s better than one with those token cracks, let me know… I’ll wait. The ice cream bricks, wrapped in white paper packets, were hurled across the table at each person who wanted one. Most of the time, that was everyone. It was a token move of my aunts. That, and her very famous ‘washing machine’ dance move that always had everyone in tears, even the most cynical teenager (me).
And so this recipe was born, a combination of ice cream and cheesecake.
But dont worry, I know there is of course one giant elephant in the room. That being, that maybe you have never made ice cream before? We all know that most of us skim past these recipes, automatically without a second thought, shoving them into the ‘too hard basket’. And I get it, I’m an experienced believer in procrastination. I’ve got more coffee table cook books than your typical modern book store. But the thing is, this recipe is more of a ‘mix this, fold that, add together and pour into a tin’ kind of recipe.
However, P.s. if you are still on the fence and are thinking the paper packaged ice cream bricks might be a better way to go, I’ve added a link for them below.
Makes - one tub of ice cream.
Ingredients
250g cream cheese (room temperature, must not be firm at all)
395g condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice
580ml thickened cream
zest of two medium sized lemons
Method
Place room temperature cream cheese into a mixer bowl and beat on a medium speed until all lumps have dissolved. Scrape the bowl down, right to the bottom and mix again for five minutes or so, until all lumps have disappeared. Do a final scrape down to double check there are no remaining lumps. Please note: this is a vital step in this recipe. The cream cheese must be room temperature, otherwise you will end up with chunks of savoury tasting cream cheese in your ice cream.
Pour in half the condensed milk and mix. Scrape down the bowl and then mix until smooth. Add in the remaining condensed milk and mix.
While the mixer is running, add in the vanilla extract and fresh lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Set aside.
Grate the lemon zest and set aside.
Pour thickened cream into a new mixing bowl and whisk until soft peaks from. You will want the cream to hold it’s shape but still look like soft peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Spoon 1/3 of the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture and fold in gently.
Spoon remaining whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture in two batches, folding gently in between each batch. Make sure to get right down to the bottom of the bowl. Don’t be tempted to mix this quickly. Slow and steady wins this race.
When the mixture is thoroughly combined add in the grated lemon zest. Mix lemon zest through until evenly distributed throughout the ice cream mix.
Method continued - churn
I use a kitchenaid ice cream bowl to churn my ice cream, however if you are using a different appliance please check in with the instruction manual. For a kitchenaid ice cream bowl, I pour in the mix and mix on the lowest speed for 35-40 minutes or until the ice cream resembles soft serve consistency. Pour into a long loaf tin and seal with a generous amount of gladwrap or pour into a freezer safe plastic container. Transfer to the freezer asap.
Method continued - no churn
At this point you can pour the mixture into your preferred container and seal. To store the ice cream you will need a long loaf tin sealed with a generous amount of gladwrap or a freezer safe plastic container. Done! Transfer to the freezer asap.
Storage
Store in the freezer for a maximum of 2 weeks.
The essentials
Recipe inspiration sourced from
Adapted from a Julie Blanner recipe.
