Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream
I am sprawled out on the couch with my family, watching our 4th consecutive night in a row of Shark Week with a big bowl of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream. I don’t know what my morbid fascination is, but I cannot even turn away. I am just staring at the tv, while shoveling in this decadent dessert. Attractive, huh?

Have I ever told you about my certifiable fear of sharks? I feel like this might be a familiar rant, but I seriously can barely swim in a pool for fear that a shark will pop out of the drain and eat me. Lakes are completely out of the question- haven’t you seen “River Monsters”? Bull sharks totally get into the fresh water systems and breed…
I think I have also just exposed my weakness for reality tv. And we are not talking “Real Housewives” and “Honey Boo-Boo” I am all about “River Monsters” and Alaska Wilderness documentaries… I am not sure what that says about me… But anyways, lets talk dessert instead.

I LOVE strawberry shortcake. I am sure that I am hardly alone in this, as strawberry shortcake is one of the most delicious and classically popular Summer desserts of all time. (I have the greatest Shortcake recipe ever in my book by the way.)

When I made Strawberry Shortcake for friends a few weeks ago, we wound up with an extra shortcake and a bunch of gorgeous strawberries, and it was actually my niece Madison’s idea to make Strawberry shortcake ice cream, and what a good idea it was!

We used a rich vanilla base with the fresh strawberries and chunks of shortcake which stay soft even when frozen. When you get a bite with the shortcake and the strawberry and the creamy vanilla ice cream it is like a little bite of ice cream heaven.

To make this Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream, this is what you do:

In a small pot, bring the cream, milk and vanilla to a simmer.

In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar and salt and whisk.

Continue whisking until you have a thick texture and a pale yellow color.

Temper the egg yolks by adding the hot milk mixture to the eggs a tiny bit at a time while whisking, until it is all added.

Pour the liquid into a medium pot and simmer over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.

Cook up to 5 minutes more until the custard can coat the back of a spoon and when you drag your finger over the spoon it holds it’s edges.

(If any of the eggs scramble, then you should run the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl.) Put the bowl in an ice bath.

When the custard has cooled, put it into the refrigerator for at least an hour or two until it is completely cold. Freeze the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions. When the ice cream is half frozen, pour in the strawberries.

Break the shortcake into large chunks and add them in the last minute of the ice cream.

Empty it all into a freezer proof container.

Place it into the freezer for at least 2 hours until frozen.

Scoop and serve.