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I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than ice cream on a hot summer day and I can certainly tell you that our Cuisinart ice cream maker has been used more times than I can count this summer.  I keep one of the two ice cream bases in the freezer at all times so while one is being used to make the ice cream, the other is ready and waiting to be used.

Since I have a huge supply of limoncello at home, I decided to make limoncello ice cream.  I have to say that with all the recipes I’ve been putting limoncello into these days such as, the Limoncello Marinade for Chicken, Limoncello Champagne Aperitifs and the soon to be posted Limoncello Lemon Curd, our supply is getting low.  I’m not too worried.   As I’ve said before, making limoncello is EJ’s hobby so I don’t think I’ll have any problems with my supply running out.  If your husband doesn’t have a limoncello hobby, you can easily find limoncello at your local grocery or wine store.

This limoncello ice cream is so rich and creamy.  The limoncello gives the ice cream a sweet yet slightly tangy taste and you’ll detect a lovely, strong lemon flavor. The color of the limoncello is a beautiful deep yellow color, it’s so pretty to look at…

Usually I don’t cook my ice cream mixture on the stove.  Since I want to make my ice cream quickly, I prefer to blend the few ingredients in a bowl and then pour it into the frozen ice cream base and churn away.  But this recipe begs for the milk and eggs to be cooked over the stove to create a custard.  It needs the richness that the eggs bring to the flavor so I urge you to take the few extra minutes to do this.

I started out with a recipe from  David Lebovitz for the vanilla ice cream .  If you want a recipe for a creamy, rich and absolutely delicious vanilla ice cream, his is the one!  You should definitely read his blog post on vanilla ice cream.  I love how he explains the differences in vanilla extracts…it’s very interesting.

INGREDIENTS (Recipe modified slightly from David Lebovitz’s Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup limoncello

DIRECTIONS

Heat the cream, milk and a pinch of salt in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring to a simmer and reduce heat.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and gradually add the sugar and continue whisking to combine.

Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts.  Add  1/3 of a cup of the cream at a time until just about all of the cream has been added to the eggs.

Return the entire egg-milk mixture to the saucepan with the remaining milk and reheat.

Add 1/2 cup of limoncello and stir well.

Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon and reaches 170 degrees F .

Pour the mixture into a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Place the bowl in the refrigerator, cover and store for at least 4 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour into the ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions.  This process should take approximately 20-30 minutes.  Serve as is for soft serve or place in the freezer and allow the ice cream to harden for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!