Limoncello Ice Cream

So it’s early February and it’s like 400 degrees in San Diego. Okay, more like 80 degrees but still. It’s supposed to be 86 on Monday. Where did winter go?! We had maybe 3 weeks of sub 70 degree temperatures. Normally I wouldn’t be too bothered by this, but I’ve recently taken up snowboarding! Sun + Snow = No. The closest place to snowboard around us is Big Bear. The snow usually isn’t great because, well it’s Southern California. I get it. But to get to real snow, say in Mammoth, it’s about a 7 hour drive from us. Anyway I totally suck at snowboarding, but it’s my favorite thing ever right now! Much to the dismay of my knees and tailbone. I have bruises all over that look plain scary, like I have gangrene in my knee, and then I’ve had to modify all my ab workouts because I can’t lay down. That’s funny though right? I’m trying to have a sense of humor about it.

I’m slowly but surely getting all my own gear together for snowboarding. So far I’ve gotten my own gloves, socks, butt pad/knee pads, bindings, and boots. Now I just need snow clothes, googles, and a board. This ish is SO expensive. If you didn’t buy it a piece at a time it would be thousands of dollars. So my next purchase will be my board. I feel like I’m making the biggest decision of my life. I keep stalking/harassing poor Nate over at snowboardingprofiles.com, everyday I have a new question or concern. His blog is awesome if you’re into snow stuff at all. He has great info and product reviews and I’d be completely lost without him at this point. I think I have my choices narrowed down to 3 boards so hopefully I can get one next week and go shred*. (*Fall down every 3-5 seconds.)

Okay I’ll stop boring you with my snowboarding stuff and get back to what we came here for. Food! So it’s been so hot and obviously when it’s hot that means you need ice cream. It’s the only logical solution. I’ve been obsessed with Limoncello for so long and I’ve been thinking about making a Limoncello Ice Cream recipe in my head for awhile, so this just seemed like the perfect time to do it. There is something so romantic about Limoncello to me. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I’ve seen Under the Tuscan Sun too many times. Who knows, but I absolutely am enamored by it.

When I first decided to make this recipe, I knew that I wanted to use a quality Limoncello. So I went to BevMo, obvs., to scope out my options. While they had a great selection and variety there, most of them contained artificial colors or flavoring. Say what? Limoncello doesn’t need color or flavoring! So I found one that was actually made right here in California called Ventura Limoncello. The bottle had all these tasting awards on it and cool little booklet which explained that you can identify a quality Limoncello by it’s “collar” which is a ring of ingredients that have settled around the neck of the bottle. Sure enough, there it was in plain site. None of the other bottles that were from “Italy”, but imported through Michigan, with artificial stuff, had that. So I grabbed it and off I was to make my ice cream dreams come true.

I’d love to try real Limoncello from Italy. That means I should probably just book a trip to Italy and then write it off as a business/blogging expense. Right? Any tax people out there? That’s legit right? Ha! I would also love to make my own at home. It’s supposedly super easy. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Or so they say. I’m so obsessed with Limoncello in fact that I made a Limoncello cake recipe in my cookbook. And I’m not even a huge lemon person. Is that weird? You know I’m all about that chocolate.

Valentine’s Day is this weekend! What are you doing? Making my Brownie Heart Cookies? Well duh, that’s a given, but what else are you doing? Have you ever watched the show How I Met Your Mother? Where every Valentine’s Day Marshall and Lily would watch Predator. I don’t know why, but that’s my favorite. I want to watch a non-Valentine’s Day movie every Valentine’s Day. It sounds so fun and quirky, but not quirky just for the sake of being quirky. Maybe we’ll watch John Wick. Have you seen that movie yet? Oh my gosh stop reading this and go watch it. So it has Keanu in it, and while he’s easy on the eyes, he’s definitely not one of the great actors of our generation. That aside, he’s actually pretty good and the movie John Wick rules. The soundtrack kicks ass, the action scenes are stellar, and the entire movie is just great start to finish. It would be my movie pick of the week for you if this were like a movie blog. But it’s not, so go make some ice cream.

Limoncello Ice Cream

2016-01-25 19:00:45

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Prep Time

30 min

Total Time

2 hr

Prep Time

30 min

Total Time

2 hr

Ingredients

Limoncello Ice Cream

1. 2 (13½-ounce/400-ml) cans full-fat coconut milk
2. 4 large egg yolks
3. ½ cup (65 g) maple sugar
4. 2 tablespoons raw honey
5. ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6. ¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
7. 1 cup (240 ml) lemon curd (see recipe below)
8. ½ cup (120 ml) limoncello (store-bought or homemade)

Lemon Curd

1. ½ cup (68 g) maple sugar
2. ¼ cup (20 g) grated Meyer lemon zest
3. ¾ cup (180 ml) fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
4. 2 tablespoons raw honey
5. 4 large eggs
6. ⅛ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
7. 12 tablespoons (6 ounces/170 g) unsalted cold butter, cubed

Directions

Limoncello Ice Cream

1. Heat the coconut milk in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium heat, stirring intermittently with a wooden spoon, until it reaches a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and maple sugar in a large mixing bowl until the yolks thicken and become a pale yellow.
3. When the coconut milk comes to a simmer, remove from the heat. Temper the eggs by pouring one-third of the hot coconut milk into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking continually, so the egg doesn’t begin to cook, until the coconut milk is combined. Then pour another one-third of the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Once that is combined, transfer the egg mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining milk. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and simmer until the mixture is thick enough to coat the wooden spoon, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. After the mixture is ready, pour it through a fine-mesh sieve over a clean mixing bowl. The sieve will filter out any egg that may have cooked during the process.
4. Stir in the honey, vanilla, and salt until combined. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the mixture and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or until cool. Alternately it can be placed in the freezer for 30 minutes or until cool.
5. Once the mixture is cool, stir in the lemon curd and limoncello with a whisk, mix until combined.
6. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn it, following the manufacturer’s instructions. If firmer ice cream is desired, transfer the ice cream to a container, cover, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or until the desired firmness is reached. Store ice cream in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Lemon Curd

1. Combine the maple sugar and lemon zest in a medium-sized bowl. Mix together with a spoon until combined; set aside.
2. In a large heatproof mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, honey, eggs, and the sugar-zest mixture. Place the bowl over a saucepan half filled with water set over medium heat. As the water starts to simmer, stir constantly using a whisk, until the mixture thickens to a pudding texture and reaches 160°F (71°C), about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and press the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a blender pitcher. Add the salt, then blend on low, adding the butter a few cubes at a time. Continue to blend after all the butter has been added; the mixture will become light and creamy.
3. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly on the surface. Let it set in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to cool and thicken.The curd will stay fresh for about 1 week.

Notes

1. Special Equipment: Candy thermometer, ice cream maker.
2. Subs: ½ cup (120 ml) pure maple syrup in place of maple sugar. Whisk the yolks alone until they have lightened in color. Continue with recipe and add the maple syrup in the last step before refrigerating when stirring in the honey, vanilla, and salt.
3. For dairy version: sub 1½ cups (350 ml) of whole milk and 1 cup (240 ml) of heavy cream for the canned coconut milk.

Nut-Free

Dairy-Free

Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind https://cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com/

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