Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

After making my strawberry scones, I still had a lot of strawberries left.  One of the first things I thought of making was ice cream.  One problem - I didn't have an ice cream maker!  The night before I went strawberry picking, I ordered an ice cream maker from amazon.  It was actually a great deal, especially after my $20 gift card.
This ice cream is oh so good.  If I was making it for a party, I would have made the graham cracker crust rounds.
I only have a few things I would have changed - mostly just my own technique.  I recommend mashing the strawberries really well.  I wanted to have some chunks still there, but they were so frozen in the ice cream that I think I would have preferred more of a puree.  The original recipe said that the strawberries could be folded into the ice cream, but I think that negatively affected the texture.  As long as there's room in the ice cream maker (there wasn't any left in mine), add it right in the mixer in the last 5-10 minutes.  I made 2/3 of the recipe, and the ice cream base on its own filled my 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker.  Also, make sure the cream cheese is completely at room temperature before using.  I didn't let it sit out long enough, and it didn't mix uniformly into the custard.  Actually, that may have been due in part to the cold custard.  It might be best to mix the custard into the cream cheese when the custard is still a little warm, and then chill that combination before freezing.
But regardless of all of that, the ice cream is so delicious!  I may never buy ice cream again!

Recipe: Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (from Apple Pie, Patis and Pate)
Ingredients: (I am listing the amounts I used - 2/3 of the original recipe)
2/3 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

2/3 lb cream cheese (I only had 1/2 lb so I made up for the rest with greek yogurt)
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
Mash the strawberries with the sugar, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and light.

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a gentle simmer.  Add a small amount of the milk to the eggs and stir well, then ad the rest slowly.  Heat over a double boiler while stirring constantly, just until the mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon.  (Mine never got that thick, but it worked out just fine.)

Remove immediately from the heat.  Stir in the cold cream to stop the cooking, followed by the vanilla extract and salt.  Strain using a fine mesh strainer.

Cool the custard completely at room temperature.  Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Using a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese (and yogurt, in my case) with the sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until light and smooth.  Slowly add the chilled custard and mix until smooth.

Pour into the chilled bowl of your ice cream maker, and start churning!

When it is almost set up, pour the sugared strawberries into the machine.

Serve immediately for a soft-serve consistency, or store in an airtight container and freeze.