ICOTW: Lemonade Ice Cream

For the 4th of July weekend I wanted real, classic, American summer food.  That included burgers, corn on the cob, watermelon, blueberries, chips, and lemonade ice cream.  Now, I had never had lemonade ice cream before that weekend but it felt pretty summery and a nice take on a classic American beverage (did we invent lemonade?  I have no idea but it feels appropriately summery for the 4th).  Also included my very strong Long Island iced tea, a good two hours after I started drinking it (notice there is still plenty of ice in the cup).  Long Island is in America so also appropriate (Matt stuck with his American Bud Select). 

Of course, with all this food and a child who rarely finishes his plate, we didn't have room for ice cream immediately after supper but that was fine and we could later enjoy them around the fire between sparklers and Luke's favorite pops (the poppers you throw on the ground and they "pop!").  He really loves those and lucky for us they are only $1 and pretty kid friendly.  The 4th of July isn't the exact middle of our summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day) but it still always feels like the midpoint of summer and maybe the summeriest-summer weekend of them all, even if it barely gets above 80°.

Need some real summery summer ice cream?  This might be right up your alley, as long as you like lemonade, and really, who doesn't?

Lemonade Ice Cream
yield: 1 quart
Ingredients

-6 egg yolks
-2/3 cup sugar
-3 cups whole milk
-1 tsp lemon extract
-zest of 3 lemons
-2TB fresh lemon juice (you should get more than that from the 3 lemons zested above)
-1/3 cup undiluted frozen lemonade concentrate

Directions
1) Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until light and thick (I used my stand mixer but you could also do it by hand!).  Set aside.
2) Pour the milk into a medium-sized saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Slowly pour into the egg mixture, beating the entire time.  Return this to the saucepan and the stove over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon.  Remove from heat.  Do NOT let it boil.
3) Stir in the lemon extract, zest, and juice.  Let cool to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.  At least 3 hours or overnight.
4) Churn according to the instructions for your ice cream maker.  Once it starts to thicken while churning, add the lemonade concentrate and continue churning.  Place in freezer to set up further.

Our Thoughts
Luke loved this because he's a smart kid and, duh, ice cream.  I really liked the flavor was wasn't thrilled with the chunks of lemon zest that got all bunched up together when churning. Somehow my cone had a lot of those and Matt's had none so he didn't have that complaint.  I might leave out the lemon zest next time?  Or just pull out the chunks after churning?  I haven't figured it out for sure yet BUT it was still a really good, summery ice cream.  It definitely tasted like lemonade and not just lemon, which would also be good.  Perfect for hot summer days.

Source: I Heart Naptime