Y'all this strawberry cheesecake ice cream, with its brown buttery Graham crumble and its sweet-tart-sticky key lime marshmallow swirl is a mouthful. A sweet-tart-crunchy-creamy-sticky-glorious mouthful. And it's also one of my favorite ice creams I have ever made.You can make the base alone, the base and the mallow, the base and the crumble, or all three. It all depends on how much time you want to spend making this. But whatever you decide, you are going to love eating it!
Note in the cooking times that I've tried to include all the time it will take to make the components. You can make the components over several days, though.
12ozby weight fresh, lovely strawberries (but frozen would be okay too), topped and tailed
3.5ozby weight, about 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1Tablespoonfreshly squeeze lemon or lime juice(lime makes more sense here, but either will do)
pinchof salt(less than 1/8 teaspoon)
For the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Base
1 8ozblock of cream cheesesoftened
16oz2 cups half and half (or one cup each cream and whole milk)
7ozabout 1 cup granulated sugar (plus another ounce more, optional)
3egg yolks
2teaspoonscorn starch
¾teaspoonkosher salt
1cupby volume strawberry puree, chilled
1-2drops red food coloringcompletely optional
For the Key Lime Marshmallow Cream
¾cupgranulated sugar
½cuplight corn syrup
¼cupkey lime juice plus 2 teaspoonsdivided use
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
2large egg whites at room temperature
For the Browned Butter Graham Cracker Crumbs
10double graham crackers(I used Honey Maid)
pinchkosher salt
1Tablespoongranulated sugar
1.5oz3 Tablespoons browned butter
Instructions
For the Strawberry Puree
Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat.
Bring the berries to a boil, pressing down on them to break them down as they soften.
Let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes until the juices look a bit syrupy.
Carefully transfer to a blender and puree on high. Strain through a fine mesh strainer
and then cool.
Chill in the refrigerator until you need it.
For the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Base
Cube the cream cheese.
Place the cream cheese, half and half, 1 cup of sugar, yolks, corn starch and salt in a large sauce pan.
Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil.
Let boil for 10 seconds, still whisking constantly.
Strain into a large bowl.
Add the chilled strawberry puree and whisk until well combined.
Taste and add the additional sugar if you think it needs it. You want the base to be just a smidge sweeter than you think it should be since the sweetness will be dulled in the freezer.
Add the food coloring if desired.
Chill until at least 40F.
For the Graham Cracker Crumbs
Pulse the crackers in the food processor until you have coarse crumbs. You can also put them in a zip top bag and smash them. That's what I did.
Add the salt and sugar to the crumbs and stir around to distribute evenly.
Drizzle in the melted butter, stirring well to make sure all the crumbs are coated.
Dump the crumbs out on a Silpat-lined baking sheet and press/pat into a disc about 1/4" thick. It won't bake back together into one big cookie, so don't expect it to. Doing it this way makes sure everything browns evenly in the oven.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Remove and spread out the crumbs to cool completely. Place them in the freezer about 30 minutes before you need them.
For the Key Lime Marshmallow Cream
Put the sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup of key lime juice and salt in a small sauce pan.
Put the egg whites and 2 teaspoons of key lime juice in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Bring the sugar mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stir until it reaches a boil, then put the lid on it and let boil for 2 minutes to wash down any sugar crystals. With the high proportion of corn syrup, crystallization isn't a huge issue, but better to be safe than sorry.
While the syrup is boiling with the lid on, start the mixer.
Whip the whites on medium speed until foamy.
At this point, take the lid off the syrup and let cook until it reaches 240F. This will only take 2-3 minutes, so keep an eye on it.
Whip the whites on high speed until they reach medium peaks. Try and time it so that the whites and syrup are ready at the same time. If not, err on the side of the syrup. Better whites underwhipped by a bit than syrup that is too hot.
Turn the mixer down to medium speed, and stream the syrup down the inside of the mixer bowl.
Turn the mixer back up to high and whip for a good 7-8 minutes or so, until it is cool.
You will end up with a dense yet poofy cream that is super shiny and glossy and sticks up in straight, punk rock peaks.
Use a spatula to scoop all the marshmallow cream out into a large piping bag fitted with a round tip (any size, depending on how thick you want your mallow swirls to be) or into a gallon-sized zip-top bag.
Try not to make a huge mess, but this is pretty messy.
Store in the fridge until you're ready to use.
Putting it all together
Churn the ice cream base according to manufacturer's instructions.
About 20 minutes into churning time, get your ice cream container ready.
Snip off just a bit of the corner of the bag with the meringue in it.
Pipe the marshmallow cream into a random ribbon in the bottom of the container. Use more or less, depending on your taste.
Top with 1/3 of the crumbs.
Once the ice cream is at a lovely soft-serve consistency, spoon 1/3 of it evenly over the mallow and crumbs.
Pipe on more mallow cream and add another 1/3 of the crumbs.
Add an additional third of the ice cream, spreading it evenly.
Finish with more mallow cream, the rest of the crumbs and the rest of the ice cream.
Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and freeze for at least 8 hours. This ice cream is fairly soft, so make sure it is good and frozen before serving.
Notes
Shortcuts
You can leave out both the key lime swirl, the Graham crumbles, or both. Your call.
Layer in storebought marshmallow cream rather than making your own.
You can substitute regular butter for the brown butter in the Graham crumble if you don't have/don't want to make browned butter.
Substituting Dairy
If you are substituting whole milk or a plant-based milk for the half and half that is called for, increase the cornstarch by an additional 2 teaspoons.
Storing
This ice cream will be best within a week of making it. Be sure to keep it tightly covered either with a lid or with plastic wrap pressed down on its surface.
Nutrition Information
The nutritional information provided is based on 10 servings of ice cream. If you only get four servings out of the container, do the math!