Lime Ice-Cream

What do you do when you get given some fresh limes? I usually stick them in a Corona, or make some cupcakes. This time I decided to try my hand at making ice-cream. I am currently taking care of Abby's ice-cream maker while she is living overseas, and so far I can happily say that I am definitely a fan! Last week I made Stephanie's Vanilla Ice-Cream as my first attempt. I thought that one came out a little too yolk-y and yellow for my liking, but it was only my first go, so maybe I just need to get the hang of it. I also think that it may have been the egg yolks I used. The eggs were from a work colleague, and compared to the standard free range eggs from the supermarket, the yolks were huge!

On Sunday, we had our Honeymoon friends come over for lunch. It was pretty cold all day, so we just sat around inside catching up, eating and drinking tea. Kat kindly brought over a banana cake, and when I tasted it, I realised it had a familiar flavour. The recipe was of course, Stephanie's Simple Banana Cake (p120), and it was so funny, as Kat was so proud to rattle off "it's on page 120" the same time I said it. I've used that as my staple banana cake for years, and the recipe has always been requested by people who have tried it. This just demonstrates how popular Stephanie Alexander recipes are with everyone.

So, I digress...lime ice-cream. Creamy whilst tangy, this ice-cream passed the taste test, but I don't think hubby loved it. "It was alllllllriiiight" (read as: "I'm happy with Streets ice-cream any day, but thanks for going to the effort of making it").

It's not a complex recipe, but I was definitely in daydream land when I made it, as I accidentally mixed the sugar with the egg yolks and forgot to melt it into the lime juice. Whoops. I safely scooped out about 3/4 of the sugar, and successfully dissolved it, and the finished product didn't end up tasting grainy at all.

Lime Ice-Cream (Printable Recipe)
adapted from Stephanie's Lemon or lime Ice-Cream, pg 557

1/2 cup lime juice*

6 egg yolks

finely grated zest of 2 limes*

250g caster sugar

3 cups cream, lightly whipped

Boil lime juice in a small saucepan until it reduces to approx 1/4 cup lime juice. In the meantime, beat the egg yolks with the zest in an electric mixer. Now dissolve the sugar in the reduced lime juice and bring it to a boil. Pour the simmering syrup over the beaten egg mixture while the motor is still running. Beat until this cools and thickens. Fold in the cream and churn in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Please note, this recipe yields approx 1.5 litres, which is more than many ice-cream makers on the market can handle. Their capacity is often 1 litre. Stephanie also suggests that if you don't have an ice-cream maker, you can still pour it into a basin or log mould. The finished product won't be quite as creamy, but still yummy.

*For lemon ice-cream, use 3/4 cup lemon juice, reduce it to 1/3 cup, and use the zest of 3 lemons instead.