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. Few desserts can cap a hot day better than a few scoops of thick and frosty ice cream.
The supermarket freezer case or a local ice cream shop may offer plenty of ice cream options, but ice cream also can be prepared at home with some patience and quality ingredients. This recipe for “Meyer Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Cream” marries the chill of ice cream with summer citrus. A Meyer lemon is a hybrid of a lemon and a mandarin orange, offering a unique balance of citrus flavor. Enjoy this recipe, courtesy of “Chocolate Obsession: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) by Michael Recchiuti & Fran Gage.
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 fine-mesh 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 fine-mesh 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.
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