Strawberry Ice Cream

I promise to show some "footage" from our ski vacation last week, but I'm still working on a video clip.  In the meantime, tonight was Mason's dessert night... he chose homemade strawberry ice cream.  This recipe is our absolute favorite - every bit as good as (if not better than) Blue Bell (which we DO finally have up here)... but since we can make it at home, who needs Blue Bell?!

I will say that there are certainly easier ice cream recipes out there - ones where you just dump ingredients in the ice cream maker and turn it on... where you don't have to cook anything.  But in our experience, those always leave a filmy aftertaste on the roof of our mouths.  Yuck.  This one takes a little longer but it is SOOOOOOO worth it!  I'm a firm believer that taking the shortcut on many recipes greatly sacrifices both the nutritional value and the taste... okay, so there's not much nutritional value in ice cream, but you get my point.  We like to keep things as natural as we can around here... as if you haven't noticed that already.  :) 

Strawberry Ice Cream
(Note:  our White Mountain electric ice-cream maker can handle 1-1/2 times this amount, but this was the original recipe.  You may want to start with these amounts until you know for sure whether yours can take more.)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup half-and-half
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Stir in half-and-half.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture simmers.  Cook 1 minute longer.  Remove from heat.  Slowly stir half of this hot mixture into beaten eggs.  Stirring constantly, pour egg mixture into remaining hot mixture; return pan to heat.  Cook and stir over low heat about 2 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Stir in corn syrup;  cool.

In a blender or food processor, process strawberries until almost smooth.  Add strawberries and whipping cream to egg mixture.  Pour into an ice-cream canister and freeze in ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.  When it is completed, it is best to let it sit in the freezer for a few hours to firm up... if you can wait that long.  ;)