Lemonade Ice Cream

This might be my favorite ice cream recipe so far.  I've been dreaming about making it for a year.  It has fantastic flavor and a very satisfying texture.

The only thing I don't like about making frozen custard is the amount of time you have to wait between starting to make the recipe and actually eating it.  After cooking a custard, you must chill the mixture thoroughly, usually overnight!  When I start making ice cream, I want it NOW!

Here's the solution:  mix chilled or frozen ingredients into the cooked custard.  Freeze some lemon juice into small cubes, zip them into a bag and throw them in the freezer.  When you get that hankering for Lemonade Ice Cream, you'll be eating it today instead of tomorrow.

Lemonade Ice Cream
2 cans full-fat coconut milk
1/2 c. honey
3 T. lemon zest, finely chopped
5 egg yolks
3/4 c. lemon juice, frozen
1 t. vanilla

Put one can of coconut milk in the freezer.

Stir the other can of coconut milk, the honey, and the lemon zest into a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over low heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover.  Let steep for 10 minutes.

Separate eggs and beat yolks with a whisk until creamy.  Refrigerate the whites for another use.

Uncover the saucepan and return to heat.  Bring to a simmer.  Gradually stir the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, several tablespoons at a time.  This is important so you don't get scrambled egg ice cream.  Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture just coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.  Mixture will register 170 to 175 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Remove from heat.  (At this point, you can strain through a fine-mesh sieve, to remove the lemon zest and any cooked bits of egg.  I like the bits of lemon zest, so I opted to not strain.)  Scrape mixture into a 8-cup bowl.  Remove the can of coconut milk from the freezer.  Pour 1 1/4 c. of the cold coconut milk into a 2-cup glass measure, pour the remaining into the cooked mixture.  Drop frozen cubes of lemon juice into the glass measure until it reaches 2 cups.  Stir the cold coconut milk and frozen lemon juice into the cooked mixture until all the lemon cubes are melted.

Freeze in your ice cream freezer.  Garnish with shavings of unsweetened chocolate, chopped strawberries, or fresh mint.