Cool off with homemade ice cream
Ice cream is an indulgence few people can resist. With a vast array of flavors to tempt any palate, ice cream is popular year-round, but particularly so when the mercury rises.
Meyer Lemon-buttermilk Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
3⁄4 cup (6 ounces) heavy whipping cream
2⁄3 cup granulated cane sugar, divided into halves
2 Meyer lemons, (1 zested and both juiced to equal 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
1⁄2 Tahitian vanilla bean, split horizontally 1⁄3 cup whole milk 6 extra-large egg yolks
11⁄4 cups (10 ounces) buttermilk, chilled
Stir the cream and 1⁄3 cup of the sugar together in a small saucepan.
Finely grate the zest from the lemon into the pan. (The lemon can then be juiced as part of the 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.) Scrape the vanilla seeds from the bean into the pan and then add the bean. Bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat, cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap, and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, strain the cream through a finemesh sieve and return to the saucepan. Add the milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
While the cream mixture is heating, combine the egg yolks and the remaining 1⁄3 cup sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and thick and forms a ribbon when the whip is lifted from the bowl, 3 to 5 minutes.
Switch the mixer to low speed. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the bowl and beat just until combined. Do not beat to a froth.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard coats a spoon and registers 160 F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes.
Pour through the finemesh sieve into a bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the custard overnight.
The next day, add the buttermilk and lemon juice to the custard and stir to mix. Churn the custard in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.