Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Floats

It is strange to think that Spring has begun but it is already the end of strawberry season for us. From now on, juicy strawberries will most likely be arriving from California and we will have to wait another nine months to go strawberry picking again.

I think I told you about the family of kid farmers that has a stand at our farmer’s market, the Veggie Kids. I managed to get a dozen of fresh farm eggs this weekend and I decided we could make some strawberry and vanilla bean ice cream to end the strawberry season.

A couple of nights ago, Jill and I were talking about our favorite comfort foods, diner foods and childhood favorites. She was telling me about how much she loves root beer floats and what a treat they are for her. I have to be honest, I always thought that root beer tasted like medicine but that might be because I didn’t grow up drinking it. I never even knew what it was until I came here for the first time.

Unlike me, Jill is not much of an ice cream fanatic, but I thought she would enjoy some ice cream floats with fresh berries, strawberry vanilla bean ice cream and citrus flavored sparkling water. And she did.

Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

500 grams whole milk
140 grams heavy cream
40 grams glucose
150 grams sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
120 grams egg yolk
175 grams strawberries, hulled and diced
40 grams sugar

Place the whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla bean, glucose and half of the first amount of sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolk and the other half of sugar in a medium bowl. Temper the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks while whisking. Return this to the pan and cook to 84C or 183F. Strain the ice cream base through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and chill over an ice bath. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

In the meantime, cook the hulled and diced strawberries with the 40 grams of sugar in a small saucepan for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Churn the vanilla ice cream base in the ice cream machine. When finished, add the cooked strawberries, mix and transfer to a container and freeze.