THE LIKE-A-PRO ICE CREAM
With strawberries, milk, cream, sugar, and xanthan gum.
Just like all our ice cream recipes, this is not your typical strawberry ice cream: this is Strawberry Ice Cream at its best, with a refreshing strawberry flavour and a popping pink colour, thanks to an unusual method we have for preparing the fruit for ice cream making: instead of cooking the strawberries, we macerate them in the sugar for a few hours. This simple process brightens their flavour, reduces the acidity and softens their flesh, making for a perfect ice cream body and strawberry flavour.
Ice Creams made with xanthan gum are our Like-A-Pro ice creams, because with just one extra ingredient -xanthan gum-, you can make an eggless ice cream with a perfect, full-bodied mouthfeel, which churns beautifully, melts uniformly during serving, and keeps well in the freezer for a long time. Just like professionals do!
3 more ways to make this strawberry ice cream:
THE EASY! Crowd-pleasing and easy to make. Eat now, thank us later. With strawberries, milk, cream, and sugar.
THE ITALIAN WAY. This is your hot weather ice cream: easy to make, and resistant to melting. Perfect for popsicle moulds, too. With strawberries, milk, cream, sugar, and corn starch.
THE FRENCH-STYLE ICE CREAM. Rich and velvety, this is a custard-based ice cream; a tad bit tricky to make, but so much worth it. With strawberries, cream, sugar, and egg yolks.
THE EASY! Crowd-pleasing and easy to make. Eat now, thank us later. With strawberries, milk, cream, and sugar.
THE ITALIAN WAY. This is your hot weather ice cream: easy to make, and resistant to melting. Perfect for popsicle moulds, too. With strawberries, milk, cream, sugar, and corn starch.
THE FRENCH-STYLE ICE CREAM. Rich and velvety, this is a custard-based ice cream; a tad bit tricky to make, but so much worth it. With strawberries, cream, sugar, and egg yolks.
or see:
Do not reduce or replace anything; everything is there for a reason.
• Fresh strawberries: use fresh, juicy, in-season strawberries. The taste of this strawberry ice cream will be determined by the taste of the strawberries themselves. If you want a fragrant strawberry ice cream, so should be your strawberries.
• Sugar: only use regular sugar (white granulated sugar).
Do not use any other sugar or sweetener, natural or artificial, liquid or powder, like honey, stevia, golden syrup, table sweeteners, confectioner’s sugar, etc.
• Heavy cream (for double cream read below): for this recipe you can use heavy cream with 35% to 40% fat content. It is ok to use cream suitable for whipping or ultra-pasteurised cream with 35-40% fat content. Do not use low-fat cream or non-dairy cream.
• Xanthan gum can be found in speciality shops, health food stores and online. Read more about it here.
For UK readers: if you want to use double cream -which has a higher fat content (50%) than heavy cream (35-40% fat)- stir some milk into the double cream to bring it to the right fat content. Instructions in “double cream – how to use”.
• Fresh strawberries: prefer to use fresh, juicy, in-season strawberries. The taste of this strawberry ice cream will be determined by the taste of the strawberries themselves. If you want a fragrant strawberry ice cream, so should be your strawberries.
• Xanthan gum can be found in speciality shops, health food stores and online. Read more about it here.
• Sugar: only use regular sugar (white granulated sugar).
Do not use any other sugar or sweetener, natural or artificial, liquid or powder, like honey, stevia, golden syrup, table sweeteners, confectioner’s sugar, etc.
• Milk: use whole milk, with around 3,5% fat. Do not substitute with skimmed milk (lower fat) or non-dairy milk. You need both the fat and the milk proteins for this ice cream recipe.
• Heavy cream (for double cream see scroll to the right): for this recipe you can use heavy cream with 35% – 40% fat. It is ok to use cream suitable for whipping or ultra-pasteurised cream with 35-40% fat content.
Do not use low-fat cream or non-dairy cream.
For UK readers: if you want to use double cream -which has a higher fat content (50%) than heavy cream (35-40% fat)- stir some milk into the double cream to bring it to the right fat content. Instructions in “double cream – how to use”.
This is a quick overview of the recipe. If you are new to ice cream making, do read the recipe before proceeding.
In a large bowl, put the sliced strawberries and the sugar; stir well.
Leave them for 2-3 hours at room temperature to macerate; or until all the sugar dissolves. Stirring occasionally speeds up the process.
A red syrup will begin to form.
Remove the strawberries with a slotted spoon and put them in the blender jug.
Pour the syrup left in the bowl in medium saucepan,
Bring the red syrup to a boil,
Blend the cold strawberries until smooth.
With the blender on, gradually pour in the boiling hot syrup.
With the blender on, sprinkle the xanthan gum.
Add the heavy cream and blend to combine. Finally, add the milk.
Put the ice cream mixture in the refrigerator overnight; or until completely cold.
Churn the blended ice cream mixture until fluffed up and creamy.
Put it in the freezer for a few hours to set.
As soon as it sets, you can either serve it from the ice cream maker bowl or transfer to a container and store it in the freezer.
When making ice cream prefer to weigh all the ingredients by weight. We also recommend weighing the liquids directly into the bowl/pan as you proceed with the recipe instead of transferring them from one bowl to another because this transfer causes a small -but unwanted- loss of quantity.
If you do not have a kitchen scale, follow these guidelines:
• 1 cup (US) = 237 ml | 1 Tbs. = 15 ml
• strawberries: measuring the strawberries in a cup is not recommended because the results vary depending on the size of the strawberries. If you do not have a scale, you can have them weighted at the grocery store, or estimate how many you need from the net weight, as given on the packaging
• sugar: measuring sugar in tablespoons is more accurate than measuring it in cups. Use a 15 ml measuring tablespoon (not a regular one); this is 13 gr of sugar. To measure correctly, each time you scoop the sugar, level it with the flat side of a knife.
• milk and cream: thoroughly scrape with a rubber spatula any residues left on the sides and bottom of the cup every time you measure something and empty it.
Note that the quantities in each measuring system (grams, ounces, and cups) in our recipes may not always be accurate conversions; any deviations in conversions you may notice do not affect the outcome.
This recipe makes approx. 1.2 litre/quart ice cream mixture (before churning), perfect for ice cream makers with a capacity of 1.5 and up to 2 litres/quarts (like Cuisinart ice cream makers).
If you need to scale the ice cream mixture up or down, use this ratio of the ingredients (in weight only):
hulled strawberries 36.4% / milk 23.9% / heavy cream 23.9% / sugar 15.68% / xanthan gum 0.12%
in desired total weight of ice cream mixture.
For example, if you need to make 1000 g (approx. 1 litre before churning) of ice cream mixture, you need:
You can adjust the quantity of the xanthan gum in the recipe to your liking, depending on the texture you want to achieve:
You can combine double cream with whole milk to make heavy cream for this recipe.
To make 295 g (10.4 oz) heavy cream, stir together:
The resulting heavy cream has 36% fat, perfect for this ice cream. Proceed with the recipe just as if you had the 295 g (10.4 oz) heavy cream needed.
A flexible rubber spatula is good for:
-wiping the bottom of the saucepan when you cook dairy on the stovetop.
-scraping residues from bowls, saucepans etc.
If you do not have one, we strongly encourage you to buy one, preferably a flexible one.
The ice cream mixture needs to rest and cool completely before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator.
If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.
Slice the strawberries: with a sharp knife, cut the strawberries (450 g; 16 oz) into clean, neat slices. No need to cut them very thin; just slice them to a thickness you feel comfortable with.
Mix the strawberries with the sugar: in a large bowl, put the strawberry slices and add the sugar (195 g; 6.9 oz). Stir with a rubber spatula, leaving the spatula in the bowl during the whole maceration process..
Macerate the strawberries: leave the strawberries to macerate at room temperature for 2-3 hours (or more if the strawberries are cold from the fridge). Stir every hour or as needed to help the sugar dissolve. Each time you stir, scrape the sugar that sits on the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix it in the strawberries.
Make sure that all the sugar has dissolved: after 2-3 hours, a red syrup will form. Check the bottom of the bowl and if you see any sugar granules, give a vigorous, focused stir with the spatula, aiming to dissolve the sugar. It is important that all the sugar has dissolved before proceeding; if needed, leave them to macerate for one more hour or so.
Separate the strawberries from their syrup: with a slotted spoon, remove the strawberries from the bowl and place them in the blender jug. Pour the syrup into a medium saucepan.
Blend the strawberries until smooth.
Bring the red syrup to a boil over medium-high (this is at 95°C / 203°F / when large bubbles which pop vigorously appear on the surface).
As soon as it comes to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
Pour the boiling hot syrup into the strawberries; turn the blender on low speed and gradually add the hot syrup.
Add the xanthan gum: with the blender on, sprinkle the xanthan gum (½ teaspoon) over the surface and blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.
Gradually add the cold heavy cream (295 g; 10.4 oz), blending as you go.
Add the cold milk (295 g; 10.4 oz) and blend until it is a uniform pink colour with no streaks, stopping the blender and scraping the insides of the jug as needed.
Cool it down: prepare an ice bath by putting the bowl with the ice cream mixture into a larger bowl and filling the empty sides with ice cubes and cold water. How many ice cubes? A tray of ice cubes (200 g; 7 oz of ice) is enough to cool down the ice cream mixture: we just need to cool it down until it is no longer warm to the touch so that you can safely put it in the refrigerator. It will take approx. 15 minutes; do stir occasionally.
Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Xanthan gum needs 6-8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop, so do not rush the cooling process.
Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Stir: the ice cream mixture may thicken after chilling; give it a nice and thorough stir with the rubber spatula; or if it is too thick, give it a quick blitz with the immersion blender to loosen it; this will allow it to churn for longer and fluff up.
Churn: with the machine running, pour the cold ice cream mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker.
Leave to churn until creamy and wavy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
This ice cream will expand and fluff up during churning. It is ready when it looks smooth and fluffy, with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.
To evaluate if it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon, but it will still be soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.
In any case, if you feel doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: at this stage, do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve ice cream. It will firm up and become like store-bought ice cream only after it sets in the freezer.
So, stop the ice cream maker when thick and creamy, as described above. If you leave to churn it for much longer, it will start turning grainy.
Warning: some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the ice cream may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the ice cream, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.
Put in the freezer to set: before serving the ice cream or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and:
· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine
· remove the paddle, scraping any ice cream attached to it back into the ice cream bowl
· cover the ice cream bowl and place it in the freezer
Setting time depends on many factors; see notes below for indicative times.
Serve or store: when it sets, you can serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storage.
The setting time for the ice cream largely depends on the type of ice cream maker you use.
It can take :
Note: the times given are indicative. Setting time depends on many factors.
Check it occasionally (approx. every 2 hours; or as needed) while it is in the freezer. The ice cream is ready when it has an internal temperature of -11ºC / 12ºF. If you do not have a thermometer, to evaluate if the ice cream has set, insert a round tip knife into it, all the way to the bottom:
If the ice cream stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will harden and be difficult to remove or serve.
To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:
(Note: the time given is indicative, time may vary depending on many factors, so do check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)
When the ice cream is easy to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C / 12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl.
Straight after churning, the ice cream has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything. This makes it impossible to serve or transfer to another container.
Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency, similar to that of an ice cream parlour’s.
Storing: in the freezer for one month, covered well to protect it from absorbing the freezer’s smells.
Scooping: this ice cream, like all artisanal ice cream, freezes hard in the long term. You can make it perfectly scoopable again by putting it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minuter until soft; or until its internal temperature reads -11°C / 12°F.
The ice cream mixture needs to rest and cool completely before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator.
If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.
Slice the strawberries: with a sharp knife, cut the strawberries (450 g; 16 oz) into clean, neat slices. No need to cut them very thin; just slice them to a thickness you feel comfortable with.
Mix the strawberries with the sugar: in a large bowl, put the strawberry slices and add the sugar (195 g; 6.9 oz). Stir with a rubber spatula, leaving the spatula in the bowl during the whole maceration process..
Macerate the strawberries: leave the strawberries to macerate at room temperature for 2-3 hours (or more if the strawberries are cold from the fridge). Stir every hour or as needed to help the sugar dissolve. Each time you stir, scrape the sugar that sits on the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix it in the strawberries.
Make sure that all the sugar has dissolved: after 2-3 hours, a red syrup will form. Check the bottom of the bowl and if you see any sugar granules, give a vigorous, focused stir with the spatula, aiming to dissolve the sugar. It is important that all the sugar has dissolved before proceeding; if needed, leave them to macerate for one more hour or so.
Separate the strawberries from their syrup: with a slotted spoon, remove the strawberries from the bowl and place them in the blender jug. Pour the syrup into a medium saucepan.
Blend the strawberries until smooth.
Bring the red syrup to a boil over medium-high (this is at 95°C / 203°F / when large bubbles which pop vigorously appear on the surface).
As soon as it comes to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
Pour the boiling hot syrup into the strawberries; turn the blender on low speed and gradually add the hot syrup.
Add the xanthan gum: with the blender on, sprinkle the xanthan gum (½ teaspoon) over the surface and blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.
Gradually add the cold heavy cream (295 g; 10.4 oz), blending as you go.
Add the cold milk (295 g; 10.4 oz) and blend until it is a uniform pink colour with no streaks, stopping the blender and scraping the insides of the jug as needed.
Cool it down: prepare an ice bath by putting the bowl with the ice cream mixture into a larger bowl and filling the empty sides with ice cubes and cold water. How many ice cubes? A tray of ice cubes (200 g; 7 oz of ice) is enough to cool down the ice cream mixture: we just need to cool it down until it is no longer warm to the touch so that you can safely put it in the refrigerator. It will take approx. 15 minutes; do stir occasionally.
Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Xanthan gum needs 6-8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop, so do not rush the cooling process.
Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Stir: the ice cream mixture may thicken after chilling; give it a nice and thorough stir with the rubber spatula; or if it is too thick, give it a quick blitz with the immersion blender to loosen it; this will allow it to churn for longer and fluff up.
Churn: with the machine running, pour the cold ice cream mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker.
Leave to churn until creamy and wavy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes; read more in How do I know when the ice cream is ready in questions & troubleshooting below.
Put in the freezer to set: before serving the ice cream or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and:
· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine
· remove the paddle, scraping any ice cream attached to it back into the ice cream bowl
· cover the ice cream bowl and place it in the freezer
Setting time depends on many factors; read How long does it take for the ice cream to set in questions & troubleshooting below.
Serve or store: as soon as it sets, you can either serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storing.
Storing: Philadelphia-style ice cream is at its best when eaten the day it is made. If you want to keep it for longer, cover it well to protect it from the freezer’s smell and keep it in the freezer for up to one month.
Scooping: this ice cream, like all artisanal ice cream, freezes hard in the long term. You can make it perfectly scoopable again by putting it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minuter until soft; or until its internal temperature reads -11° / 12°F.
This ice cream will expand and fluff up during churning. It is ready when it looks smooth and fluffy, with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.
To evaluate if it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon, but it will still be soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.
In any case, if you feel doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: at this stage, do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve ice cream.
It will firm up and become like store-bought ice cream only after it sets in the freezer.
So, stop the ice cream maker when thick and creamy, as described above. If you leave to churn it for much longer, it will start turning grainy.
Warning: some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the ice cream may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the ice cream, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.
The setting time for the ice cream largely depends on the type of ice cream maker you use.
It can take :
Note: the times given are indicative. Setting time depends on many factors.
Check it occasionally (approx. every 2 hours; or as needed) while it is in the freezer. The ice cream is ready when it has an internal temperature of -11ºC / 12ºF. If you do not have a thermometer, to evaluate if the ice cream has set, insert a round tip knife into it, all the way to the bottom:
Straight after churning, the ice cream has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything. This makes it impossible to serve or transfer to another container.
Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency, similar to that of an ice cream parlour’s.
If the ice cream stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will harden and be difficult to remove or serve.
To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:
(Note: the time given is indicative, time may vary depending on many factors, so do check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)
When the ice cream is easy to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C / 12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl.
6 Responses
First of all, great website, great recipe, great tips along the way and very easy to follow. Incredible better than the books I bought on the subject. Just waiting for blueberry, raspberry, peach (custard) recipes and maybe a crack at watermelon/cantaloupe/melon proper custard recipes 🙂
Tried this recipe with slightly less dosage so it fits my 1L ice cream machine but after chilling it overnight I noticed 2 things: first it gets a very “thick”, but it’s my first time using xanthan so maybe it’s normal 🙂 , I only used 3g 2nd, on my ice cream maker (freezer container, not cuisinart but ‘Lidl’ brand) it stalls the paddle only after 1 or 2 minutes. I get that sometimes but only much later at the process in thicker creams.
The mixture was at 5ºC, I don’t know if it was because of this that it ‘froze’ too quickly on the machine or if it was too much gum causing it to be very thick. Previously I only chill it about 1h on the fridge and sometimes just a quick ice bath.
Any tips besides just buying a cuisinart maker? (on the way)
Hi Andre! First of all, thank you for your nice words :).
Regarding the ice cream recipe, the ice cream mixture does not become very thick after chilling, so this is the reason you ice cream maker didn’t manage to churn it. In my experience, the thickness of this xanthan gum ice cream is such that most ice cream makers should be able to work with, it doesn’t need to be a Cuisinart to properly churn it. Maybe the heavy cream you used was too thick? May I ask the fat% of the heavy cream you used?
It’s 35% since that’s the max available in my country. I need to try again with less chilling time on the fridge and a tad lower gum dose. Those were the only 2 differences I did from previous ice creams.
Your ice cream ingredients and the procedure you use seem to be perfect. For some odd reason, it seems as through the xanthan gum dose was too much for you, but I cannot figure out why. If you like, I would love to know how your next attempt goes. Also, if you could tell me which brand of xanthan gum you have used, so that I can try and find it to see if it works differently than mine, it would be useful. I really want the recipes in this site to work for anyone, so I put a lot of effort on finding why something that works for me doesn’t work for you. Thank you again for your feedback!
This ice cream is beyond awesome. I found your website, by chance, and am so thrilled with this recipe. I made the ice cream tonight with a couple of detours, I used monk fruit instead of processed sugar. After removing custard from the heat I added the vanilla and 1/2 tsp of Bob’s Red Mill Xanthan Gum plus 17 oz of fresh strawberries I pureed in my Vitamix with an additional tablespoon of monk fruit.
I cooled the custard in the sink with cool water.
My ice cream freezer is packed so I chilled a 9 X 9 stainless steel baking pan and poured in the strawberry custard and put in the freezer.
I just checked and it is not quite frozen, but enough to sample. It is a heavenly thick creamy ice cream without ice crystals.
I am so intrigued with your recipe. Thank you thank you. It is the best.
Thank you, Elizabeth! So glad it inspired you to make an ice cream you loved!