Home-made Limoncello and strawberry ice cream

With summer just around the corner,my palate has been giving me a nostalgic nudge for my mother´s home made strawberry ice cream.The strawberry season here in the Algarve, and in Andalucia, is now drawing to an end but before the cloches are finally drawn on the strawberry plants for another year I wanted to take a fruity stab at my favourite childhood treat, and give it a bit of a revival.

Due to clement weather conditions this spring the strawberry season has not only been prolonged but also produced surplus fruit. So, with a bountiful harvest of  luscious red fruit,a recipe for home made Limoncello that I was recently given and another surplus of lemons falling off our lemon tree, what better idea than to combine my home made Limoncello with some succulent local strawberries.

serves 6-8

225g(8oz) strawberries

3 egg yolks

65g (2.5oz) caster sugar

300ml(1/2 pint)double cream

150ml(1/4 pint) full fat milk

250ml(8fl oz) Limoncello

grated zest  1/2 lemon

Put a large plastic container in the freezer ready for he ice cream.Slice half the strawberries thinly and set aside. Press the remaining strawberries through a fine sieve,retaining only the pulp.Set aside.

Beat together the egg yolks and sugar.Put the cream and milk in a saucepan and bring gently to the boil.As it begins to boil, remove from the heat and and beat in the egg mixture.Return to a low heat and cook for about 1 minute stirring all the time with a wooden spoon until slightly thickened.Remove from the heat and fold in the sliced strawberries and sieved pulp.Stir in the limoncello and zest.Take the container out of the freezer and pour in the mixture until the container is 3/4 full.Leave to cool then place uncovered in the freezer.

After half an hour,remove the container and stir well.Replace in the freezer and every half an hour repeat this procedure until the ice cream is frozen.If you have an ice cream maker,churn the ice cream until it thickens,then leave in a container in the freezer until ready to serve.