This recipe comes from Barbara Tropp, the woman who introduced many Americans to the wonders of Chinese cooking. But she was also one of those people who was just absolutely lovely to be around in every respect. She was deservedly popular in the food community and left many great recipes behind as her legacy, including this famous lemon ice cream. It was passed on to me by Susan Loomis, a dear friend we both had in common. I made it, ate one spoonful, and immediately found another reason to love, and miss, Barbara. It’s superbly lemony and clean…and as zesty as Barbara was herself.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 1 quart (1 liter)

　　2 lemons, preferably unsprayed

　　1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

　　1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)

　　2 cups (500 ml) half-and-half

　　Pinch of salt

　　

Step 1

Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or blender. Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is very fine. Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved. Blend in the half-and-half and salt until smooth.

　　

Step 2

Chill for 1 hour, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

　　

Perfect Pairing

Step 3

Make Mock Lemon Meringue Pie by folding Marshmallows (page 212) into the just-churned ice cream or by topping it off with fluffy Marshmallow Sauce (page 168).

　　

Marbling

Step 4

You can marble together several flavors of ice cream and sorbet. First, pick any two (or more) flavors that sound complementary. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice creams combined will make Neapolitan ice cream, for example. Toasted Coconut Ice Cream (page 96) and Mango Sorbet (page 108), when marbled together, become a tropical combination that’s as great tasting as it looks (see photograph page 97). Get the idea?

　　

Step 5

Make and freeze the ice creams or sorbets you plan to marble. Once they’re frozen, and while they’re still relatively soft, take a separate container and alternate large scoopfuls of the ice creams or sorbets, one after the other, rapping the container on the counter to release any air pockets as you go. When you’re done, cover the container and freeze until solid.

　　

Step 6

If your ice cream maker requires 24 hours in the freezer between batches, remove the previously frozen ice cream from the freezer to soften a bit before marbling it with the second batch.

　　The Perfect Scoop