Strawberry Ice Cream

When it’s strawberry season in Louisiana, you know it! Not only does the entire city head across Lake Pontchartrain for the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival in April, but we head to our cookbooks for delicious recipes as well. This easy recipe is from the grandmother of Anne Leonard from the New Orleans School of Cooking. Although Anne makes hers in a Tupperware bread container, she says she can still picture it in her grandma’s freezer in a metal meatloaf style pan. We’re just grateful you don’t have to buy a special ice cream maker! Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz can Pet Milk (evaporated milk)
• 2 T vanilla
• ½ cup granulated sugar (or more to taste)
• 2 pints fresh strawberries, chopped into small chunks

Instructions:

1. This is going to sound strange, but this is what you do. Pour Pet milk into a plastic container and place it in the freezer. Set your timer for 45 minutes. Every 45 minutes, stir the Pet milk until you eventually get it to a slushy state. You don’t want the milk to freeze solid. You simple need it to be a somewhat frozen consistency
2. Again, another strange process – but do it. Place the slushy milk, vanilla and sugar in a mixing bowl and whip it on high speed until it becomes fluffy. Taste for sweetness. If you need more sugar, then add it in the beginning. It was double I size – absolutely amazing!
3. Then, gently fold in the strawberries
4. Transfer to container for freezing. Just like when you were freezing the Pet Milk, you’re going to do the same thing. Every 45 minutes, stir the entire mixture – that way you’re making sure the strawberries are staying in suspension

Hint: This ice cream does tend to melt quickly – so be prepared.