I make two versions of gluten free dairy free strawberry “ice cream” for my family, one with egg (a custard based ice cream) and one with out (a “Philadelphia” style).  Both are very tasty, but as I rotate whether we use eggs, I have two versions.  And, frankly, we don’t always want to go though the custard making step, we just want ice cream!  Below is the custard-style strawberry ice cream (I think it is the most rich and creamy with the custard base).  For the egg-free Philadelphia-style ice cream, see this post.  Both are delicious and hit the spot!  🙂

After freezing in your ice cream maker according to the directions for your machine, it will be a soft consistency but you can eat it right away, or put in the freezer to firm up to a more scooping texture for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Right out of the ice cream maker the ice cream is the perfect softness to put into popsicle molds, if you prefer, which is what we did.  After putting into the molds, I freeze them for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Each recipe makes about 1 quart of ice cream.

If you prefer a smoother ice cream, puree the entire amount of strawberries before adding to the recipe.  We crush part of the berries as we like the larger fruit pieces.

 Filling our push-up molds…

We got these at Williams-Sonoma a couple of summers ago.

The Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry Custard “Ice Cream”

Ingredients

  • 3 1/4 cups strawberries, stemmed and cut into quarters, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar or cane juice crystals
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups almond milk
  • 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, not light
  • 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Instructions 

  • In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until thickened and pale yellow.
  • In a sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring the almond milk to a simmer. Turn off heat. While mixer is running, slowly add the hot almond milk to the egg mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk until the custard thickens. Do not boil or the eggs will scramble. (Scrambled egg ice cream -eww!) Remove from heat and pour mixture though a fine meshed stainer into a bowl. Allow the custard to cool while preparing the strawberries.
  • Put 2 cups strawberries into a blender with the coconut milk and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Crush the last 1 1/2 cups strawberries with a potato masher. Add both strawberry amounts to the custard. Stir well. Cover bowl and put in the refrigerator until cold.
  • Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the machine’s instructions.