I have a bunch of fresh strawberries in my fridge. And I’ve been debating about what to do with them. For some reason on Wed. strawberry ice cream sounded good. I don’t normally like fruity ice creams. And if I did pick one strawberry would not be my first choice. I am a chocolate girl all the way. But I figured it was worth a try with all of these strawberries. I wanted to make something with what I have in the house. And to make something easy/qiuck. I checked my Nourishing Traditions cookbook. It has several ice cream recipes…that you don’t have to cook!! Love that. If you’re afraid of raw eggs, then the recipes are not for you. I trust the eggs we buy, so I don’t worry about it. Plus, if they are good eggs, raw eggs (the yolks at least…not sure about the whites) are actually good for you. I also wanted to make ice cream using just whole milk, no cream…since I don’t have any cream on hand. So I used the NT recipe as my base and modified it a bit. Turned out pretty good. Not quite as creamy as some ice cream…but I didn’t use cream, remember? 🙂  And I didn’t add any chemicals to make it taste creamy when it’s not 😛  But still good. It’s kind of like a sorbet. It’s a treat that I’ll feel good about eating. Only a few ingredients and all good ones. I did have to use a couple tsp. of corn starch since I don’t have any arrowroot. But it’s such a small amount I’m not worried about that. I’ll have to get arrowroot the next time I grocery shop. I only made a half recipe since I didn’t know if this would work or not. If I make it again maybe I’ll double the recipe to get a decent amount. And I’d like to try it with other berries. Blueberry ice cream sounds great! That’ll be on my list in July. And I want to try making this using the NT vanilla recipe and then adding chopped strawberries at the end too. Justin had some last night with fresh strawberries on top. He thought it was ok…but not really like ice cream. It is for sure a healthy, cool summer treat. But it’s not my final attempt at making a quicky, easy, healthy homemade ice cream. NT calls this berry ice cream and suggests raspberries, boysenberries or blackberries.

And just to give you a little nudge to make homemade ice cream or at least think twice about which kind you buy, here is what NT has to say about some of the ingredients many ice cream manufacturers use. They are not required by law to list the additives used in manufacturing. So most ice cream is synthetic from start to finish. And I personally don’t consider a mixture of antifreeze, oil paint, mitrate solvent and lice killer much of a treat 😛

DIETHYLGLYCOL: A cheap chemical used as an emulsifier instead of eggs is the same chemical used in antifreeze and paint removers.

PIPERONAL: Used in place of vanilla. This chemical is used to kill lice.

ALDEHYDE C-17: Used to flavor cherry ice cream. It is inflammable liquid also used in aniline dyes, plastic and rubber.

ETHYL ACETATE: Used to give ice cream a pineapple flavor – and as a cleaner for leather and textiles; its vapors have been known to cause chronic lung, liver and heart damage.

BUTYRALDEHYDE: Used in nut flavored ice cream. It is one of the ingredients of rubber cement.

AMYL ACETATE: Used for its banana flavor. It is also used as an oil paint solvent.

BENZYL ACETATE: Used for its strawberry flavor. It is a nitrate solvent.

Strawberry Ice Cream/Sorbet

2 cups fresh berries or 10 oz. frozen berries, partially thawed (I used fresh strawberries)
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. arrowroot (I substitued corn starch)
2 cups heavy cream, not ultrapasteurized (I used whole milk)
1/2 – 3/4 cup maple syrup

Process berries in food processor (I used a blender) for several minutes. Add egg yolks, cream and arrowroot. Process until well blended. Gradually add maple syrup until desired sweetness is obtained. Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to instructions. Transfer to storage container and store in freezer.