Berry Good?

For my second batch, I'm trying out another classic flavour - strawberry. The process, I'm learning, is about the same each time. I start with a base consisting of milk, cream, sugar and eggs (this time 4 yolks and 1/4 cup less sugar), heat to a low boil, simmer and refridgerate overnight. The new step is adding the "extras" near the end of the churning cycle in the machine. To prepare the strawberries for the ice cream, I cut up 3 cups of fresh organic strawberries and let it soak in lemon juice, sugar and a tablespoon of rum (yay, another excuse to break out the Flor de Cana!). Then I pureed half the mixture and together with the strawberries pieces, I brought it to a boil and let it cool. With 5 minutes to go in the machine, I slowly poured in the strawberries and watched the pink swirls form.

Now I'm having a mandatory sample, and mmm...it's berry berry good. The texture is a bit soft, like a thick milkshake, but a couple hours in the freezer will produce a firmer consistency. It could use another cup of strawberries too. But it's definitely tasty enough to share and I'm bringing in 4 little scoops in mini-souffle cups to my co-workers tomorrow for an afternoon pick-me-up. The biggest scoop is reserved for Mr. Roger Federer, who lost the Australian Open yesterday to Mr. Rafael Nadal, and it broke my heart to see him cry after the tournament. I definitely think strawberry ice cream will cheer him up.