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!
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 don’t have an ice cream machine. Can I make without and how?
I tried making lemon ice cream but it turned out to icy, not creamy. My pumokin ice cream did the same thing. Can you tell me shy? Thanks
Hi Sharon, make sure you are using heavy cream, that’s important for the texture. You can even use all cream and no milk for a creamier texture. Are you using an ice cream machine?
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
Love it, what a great kid 🙂 And the thought of vanilla lemon is so interesting, I’m going to have to try that.
Hi,
I am planning to make your lemon ice cream into an ice cream birthday cake later this week for my wife’s birthday. I intend to use a ginger biscuit and butter crunch base, cover it with lemon curd, pile the lemon ice cream on top of the curd covered ginger biscuit, freeze and then decorate with cream and either raspberries or blueberries and a chocolate disc piped with happy birthday.
What do you think? Will it work?
Thanks for the recipe.
It sounds extravagant and delicious ~ I love the combination of lemon and ginger!
this sounds amazing! love lemon, this is on the to do list TODAY! thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.
I made this lemon ice cream and it was great. However, what’s the best way to tone down the lemon a little bit? It was just this side of being too tart. More sugar or less lemon?
I would use less lemon, Wendy, and feel free to taste it as you go, that way you can customize it to your taste.
Made it today, I love it!!!!!!
What a way to celebrate the end of summer, glad you liked it Margaret!
Thanks for sharing this! The directions say to Store in the fridge to let it firm up. Is that a typo or will the fridge be enough cold to do the trick?
Typo! I fixed it to say freezer, thanks 🙂
This ice cream is just fantastic! Years ago I found a lemon ice cream at the store, but I’ve never found it since. This was so easy and even better than the store bought. My husband, who doesn’t usually like anything with lemons, went back for seconds! This will be a staple in our house for sure!
Thanks Amy, this ice cream was a big discovery for me, too, I adore lemon desserts and I couldn’t find a lemon ice cream to save my life. Glad your hubby liked it!
This recipe is amazing!!! My whole family loves! I added a little lemon zest and didn’t use the lemon extract (I couldn’t find), but it was perfect. Thank you for sharing. Now off to enjoy another cup of ice cream.
Thanks so much Kirsten, I’m thrilled to hear it 🙂