Lemon Ice Cream
This creamy and refreshing Lemon Ice Cream with strawberry is homemade ice cream bursting with bright citrus flavor in every scoop. Makes 1 pint of ice cream for when you’re craving a sweet and tangy dessert.
What’s your favorite summertime drink?
Mine is an ice cold lemonade (minus the ice – I hate ice in my drinks). The tarter, the better!
Whenever I’m outside all day and need to rehydrate but don’t want water, I reach for the lemonade. I’ll even put fruit in it like I do with my blueberry lemonade.
But sometimes days get *too* hot, and I reach for the ice cream instead. Why not put the two things together and make Lemon Ice Cream?
It’s a riff on strawberry lemonade ice cream where it’s 1 pint homemade lemon ice cream with strawberry sauce swirled in.
When I think of ice cream, I think of decadent, “heavy” flavors – chocolate ice cream, peanut butter ice cream, caramel ice cream, Nutella ice cream.
Very rarely do you think bright and refreshing like this lemon ice cream recipe.
I discovered lemon ice cream when I first received The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz as a Christmas gift.
You see, when I’m not gushing over chocolate, lemon is my next favorite flavor, and David’s lemon speculoos ice cream caught my eye. It ended up being the first (and certainly not the last) recipe I made from that book.
From there I adapted it into this strawberry lemonade ice cream because fresh juicy berries and refreshing lemonade scream summer to me.
You can also use other berries, cherries, or even peaches to swirl into your lemonade ice cream.
Serve it in a bowl as is or pair it with a slice of small lemon cake.
Why You’ll Love This Lemon Ice Cream Recipe
- Bright and refreshing! Sometimes summer calls for a flavor that isn’t heavy like chocolate or peanut butter.
- Pairs well with other desserts! Besides your classic cake and ice cream, you can also pair lemon with blondies, pies, and cookies.
- Makes 1 pint of ice cream! This small batch ice cream is the perfect amount to serve as dessert for two.
Ingredients For Lemon Ice Cream
Here’s what you need to make your lemonade ice cream:
- Lemon: The star of your ice cream!
- Heavy whipping cream: When making ice cream, fat is your friend! It creates the creamy, smooth texture you expect plus carries flavor and freezes better with minimal ice crystals.
- Whole milk: Because using all heavy cream would make the ice cream too rich, you’ll want to balance it with whole milk. Please do not use skim or low fat milk because you’ll end up with an icier, lackluster product.
- Sugar: Not only does it sweeten your base, sugar lowers the freezing point, which means it’ll remain semi-soft and scoopable instead of hard and icy
- Salt: Ensures your ice cream isn’t bland
- Egg yolks: Yolks are needed to make your creamy custard base. When you’re done, check out these leftover egg white recipes.
- Vanilla extract: Brings out the lemon flavor even more
How To Make Lemon Ice Cream
Here’s how to make the best lemon ice cream:
- Warm up sugar, lemon zest, heavy cream, milk, lemon juice, and salt.
- Temper the egg yolks by whisking in some of the warm milk mixture then add back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Cook until thickened, whisking often so you don’t curdle the egg. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk in the vanilla then chill in an ice bath until cool.
- Refrigerate until cold.
- Churn in your machine. Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Freeze homemade ice cream for up to 1 month.
What To Serve With Lemon Ice Cream
Lemonade ice cream is delicious on its own, but nothing sure beats a pairing like cake and ice cream! Here are desserts that pair well with lemon:
- Small Vanilla Cake
- Small Strawberry Cake
- Small Coconut Cake
- Small Batch Sugar Cookies – Make ice cream cookie sandwiches!
More Small Batch Ice Cream Recipes
If you enjoyed this homemade lemon ice cream recipe, check out these other small batch ice cream recipes:
Lemon Ice Cream
This creamy and refreshing Lemon Ice Cream with strawberry is homemade ice cream bursting with bright citrus flavor in every scoop. Makes 1 pint of ice cream for when you’re craving a sweet and tangy dessert.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (being careful not to get any white pith)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk (do not substitute low fat or skim milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup strawberry sauce (get recipe here)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, rub together the sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in the heavy cream, milk, lemon juice, and salt then warm up over medium heat.
- In a separate small bowl, add the egg yolks. Slowly whisk in some of the warm cream to temper the eggs then transfer it all back into the saucepan.
- Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spatula or spoon (170F on a thermometer).
- Place a mesh strainer over a large bowl sitting in an ice bath then pour the lemon mixture through the strainer. Whisk in the vanilla.
- Cool in the ice bath until room temperature then remove from the bath and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until cold.
- Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. As you're transferring your ice cream to an airtight container, layer it with the strawberry sauce. Freeze until firm, roughly 4 hours or overnight.
Homemade ice cream will last up to 1 month when frozen properly.
Notes
- Since you're using all egg yolks, check out my post on what to do with egg whites.
- Want more? Check out my full list of small batch ice cream recipes including chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.
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This one caught my eye big time Carla! I love lemon, lemonade, sour sweets, all citrus, you name it. And with berries it is really an amazing combination. And an ice cream! I make it year round, not a seasonal thing for me.
So pretty and yummy looking Carla! I love those bright yellow doilies and all the colors in the photos.
Your ice cream is making my heart go pitter pat, Carla! Lemon desserts rank right up there with bacon and salted caramel on my favorite foods list!
Ooooh you are having a week of recipes that Michael loves! He adores strawberry lemonade AND ice cream so obviously this would be a hit!
Oh wow does that sound good!
I LOVE lemonade in the summertime, especially strawberry.
This ice cream looks so refreshing and delicious! I totally want to get the David Lebovitz book now (not that I didn’t already want it before!)
this sounds so yummy! perfect for summer.
I haven’t yet tried this combination but it looks and sounds delicious!
This sounds amazing for summer! Love the combo of flavors!
To tell the truth I don’t like strawberry lice cream and I’m not a big fan of lemon in desserts. But I’m not crazy! I love lemonade and I love strawberries. This sounds delightful!
I’m going to snatch this recipe and try at home. LOL Thanks for sharing your yummy ice cream recipe.
Ice Cream is everywhere. This looks so summery!!
Carla,
The bucket for the ice cream maker is in the freezer, and whole milk was marked down the other day so I’ve got a gallon. I even have a bit of heavy cream left over . . . just need lemons.
This looks so wonderful, and you’re quite clever for dreaming it up and making it look so beautiful. I know ice cream is more photogenic than, say, hummus, but the hummus can sit there patiently while I try a few angles, download the shots and see what they look like, and run back to take a few more. You made it look good within time constraints of melting and that’s exceptional.
Thanks!
Yumm ! I will probably try this with coconut cream soon. Love lemonade and add strawberries to that …. ooh la la ! Can’t wait to make this !!
Do you strain out the lemon peel before freezing? It seems like a lot of peel for that small amount of liquid. I made this once before and absolutely LOVED it, but I did strain out most of the peeling. I’m getting ready to make it again and thought I’d check with you first! Thanks.
I personally didn’t strain it, but you are definitely welcome to! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe :)
Yields 1 what?
1 pint. When I switched recipe card plugins, it cut off some words in the serving size.