Fresh Lemon Ice Cream is like no other ice cream you’ve ever had, homemade or store bought ~ the zippy, tart, citrus flavor is unique and so refreshing because it’s made with lots of fresh lemon juice. And it’s ready in under 30 minutes!
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The hands on prep time of this lemon ice cream is short because I don’t make an egg custard base. It’s a simple matter of mixing the ingredients and popping them into the ice cream machine. This is exactly the type of homemade recipe that convinced me to get a machine in the first place ~ I’ve never tasted any commercial ice cream with anything close to the pure, clean flavor of tangy fresh lemon. The secret is lots of fresh lemon juice and a tiny bit of pure lemon extract to really bring that flavor out.
Reader Rave ~
“My son and I just made this and we love it. I am not a lemon person but this turns out surprisingly not too lemony. We put vanilla bean extract instead of lemon extract. I asked my son to give the recipe a rating and he chose 5 stars. Kids don’t lie lol. We will be keeping this recipe for future use. Thank you” ~ Has
I added 2 tiny drops of yellow food coloring, mostly for the sake of the photos. I hardly ever use food coloring, and when I do I use it very sparingly. In this case it just takes the ‘edge’ off the stark whiteness of the ice cream, and gives us a visual cue that what we’re about to enjoy is lemony.
I love this partly because I’m a lemon addict, but also because it’s such an unusual flavor, at least for ice cream. There are plenty of lemon sherberts and sorbets out there, but not too many actual ice creams. I almost added dark chocolate chunks to it, but held back in favor of the pure lemon. I think I made the right decision, although it’s something to think about for a future batch.
So far anyway I’ve been focusing on the simplest ice cream recipes, ones that involve no egg yolks, and no cooking. For this one I just whisk sugar into cold milk and cream, and then I poured the lemon juice in right before I added it to the machine. It curdled a bit but I figured it would work itself out as it churned, and I was right.
The best part of making your own ice cream is dipping the spoon in while it’s churning. One taste and I knew I had a winner. The large amount of lemon juice gives it a kick that you don’t expect from ice cream.
You can sprinkle on a little zest as a garnish, but again, I did that mostly for photographic purposes. I do think this lemon ice cream would be pretty spectacular with some homemade dark chocolate magic shell, or homemade bittersweet hot fudge sauce, though. Lemon and dark chocolate is a killer combination.
Which ice cream machine do I recommend?
I get asked all the time about what machine I use. I use and recommend Cuisinart. I’ve had my machine for years without any issues, I think that’s because there are no fussy electronic parts to break down ~ it’s a simple motor that turns the freezer bowl for churning the ice cream and it works quickly and perfectly every time. I love the easy on/off switch!
- The machine I use is the base model. It works great for ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbets, and makes all of them in about 2o minutes. Click HERE or click on the image for more info.
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Fresh Lemon Ice Cream
Equipment
- ice cream machine
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
- 1/2 cup cold milk
- 1/2 cup sugar, I used superfine baking sugar, but you don’t have to
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, about 4 or 5 lemons
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 2 or 3 drops yellow food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Mix the cream, milk, and sugar together and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the food coloring if you are going to use it.
- Make sure your mixture and your lemon juice are cold, and when you are just about to add the cream to your ice cream maker, add the lemon juice and extract. Pour into the machine and process according to the instructions. On the basic Cuisinart machine it takes about 20 minutes.
- You can eat it soft right from the machine, or freeze it longer for a firmer scoop.
Nutrition
Note:
- After this ice cream has been in the freezer for several hours it will be quite hard. Bring it out and let it sit for a while to soften up before scooping.
- Recently I bought some quart sized cardboard ice cream containers, just like commercial ice cream comes in, and I love them. They’re great if you want to share your ice cream, or use it as a host/hostess gift. And if you have anyone in your house who likes to eat ice cream right out of the carton while they watch tv, letting it get all drippy and disgusting, and then put it back in the freezer, you might want to consider reserving a carton just for yourself.
I’m a bit late here. Trying to find what to do with my Myers lemons that have ripened on the tree. My daughter doesn’t like cookies, cakes or cupcakes. It’s a texture things ha. My question is, I have an old style ice cream maker but don’t want to use it. Can I just mix together, pour into a container and freeze?
Hi Dar ~ it’s not always possible to convert a regular ice cream recipe to a no churn one…check out my no-churn recipes on the blog (http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/?s=no+churn) for ideas…I would suggest whipping the cream and using some sweetened condensed milk as your base, along with the lemon juice. Good luck, and I’m super jealous of your lemon tree!
Sue, thank you so much for responding. I will look into this. She loves SCM in a huge way.
Just made the lemon ice cream and my husband wanted to thank you for the recipe! Best ever – super creamy and refreshing. I used the last of our Meyer lemon stash, and it was a great way to enjoy them. Thanks!
Oh I’m so glad Liz — I think lemon is the best flavor for ice cream!
I used the same recipe and made peach using 1/2 cup peach puree and almond flavoring. It turned out well – need to try your nectarine version!
Nice, I need to try that, I’ve got some great peaches right now. Love that you used almond flavor 🙂
This would be really good on a berry pie. My husband talks about a lime ice cream that he had when he was a kid (many years ago. I might try to make a lime one too. Love the ease of this recipe.
Thanks Ruth–I agree, this would be fabulous with berries. I love the idea of a lime ice cream, let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Utterly divine. Lemony desserts are my absolute favourite, so I have to try this. I often make a frozen lemon yoghurt in the same way – just a litre of Greek yoghurt, loads of lemon juice and zest, and a bit of sugar, churned up in the ice cream machine – never thought of using milk and cream instead. Love the simplicity of this, and yes a bit of chocolate shell over the top would be pretty divine too I think.
What a beautiful, refreshing ice cream! I adore lemon!
This was hands down one of our new favorite ice cream recipes. Just tried it last night. So smooth and creamy with the light taste of lemon. Usually chocolate is my first choice but this is going to the top of the list. Thanks so much!
Thanks, Ann, I just loved it, too. Of course I love chocolate, as well. I guess we’ll have to try to combine them next time!
Sue, your lemon ice cream sounds marvelous. You could probably avoid it getting hard by adding more sugar, to lower the freezing point, but then it would be a tad too sweet for lemon ice cream. Sounds great!
This sounds delicious!! I don’t think I’ve ever had lemon ice cream – just sorbet – but I know I would like it!
Your recipe sounds so delightfully refreshing, I have book marked it for later in the year (I can’t get cream in France, only creme fraiche, so tend not to make ice cream there).
I love anything lemon but I’ve never tried lemon ice cream. I’m craving a big bowl!