Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream

Is your house like mine in June?  Do you often have so many strawberries that you’re running out of ideas for how to use them?  Well be sure to set aside a couple cups to make a simple swirl to add to this mouthwatering cheesecake ice cream.   Aww heck…even if you don’t have strawberries in the house, don’t skip making this ice cream because it certainly doesn’t need the swirl.  The swirl just takes the ice cream over the top.  That’s all.  I was psyched to be making this recipe by itself since I’ve had my eye on it for some time but when Kyle suggested swapping out the blueberries for strawberries in Lebovitz’s blueberry sauce recipe and using it as a swirl throughout the mixture, my heart skipped a beat.  And once you taste this ice cream, your’s will too!  For an egg-less ice cream, this is by far the creamiest I’ve made yet, likely due to the cream cheese and sour cream in the recipe…yum!!  The recipe only yields 3 cups so I doubled it but kept the swirl recipe to a single recipe and had enough leftover to use as a sauce on top.  And just to up the ante a wee bit more, I crumbled up a graham cracker and sprinkled a few pieces on before eating – delicious!!

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Cheesecake Ice Cream
source: David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop, page 62

8 ounces cream cheese
1 lemon, preferably unsprayed
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
Strawberry Sauce (Swirl) (recipe follows)

Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and add to a blender/food processor. Zest the lemon into the food processor, and then add the sour cream, half-and-half, sugar and salt. Puree until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker. Before transferring the frozen mixture to the freezer, place one half of the mixture in your ice cream container.  Dollop 3-4 tablespoons onto the mixture and swirl around with a sharp knife.  Spoon remaining ice cream mixture into the container and repeat the swirling process.  Freeze ice cream to your desired hardness level.

Strawberry Sauce (Swirl)
source: adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop, page 182

2 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, heat the strawberries and sugar until the strawberries begin to release their juices and start to breakdown.  Mix the cornstarch with the cold water and lemon juice until lump free, then stir the slurry into the strawberries.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and pour mixture into a small bowl.  Chill thoroughly before swirling into ice cream mixture.

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