I just couldn’t wait to share this ice cream with you! I had another post all ready to go, but this ice cream post won out because it’s just that good. This was a fun recipe to make because it used an ingredient I’d never heard of before – creme fraiche (and no, I don’t know how to make my keyboard do those little accent charcters, sorry!). Creme Fraiche is a thick soured cream with a very smooth texture. I couldnt find this specialty ingredient at my local Meijer, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise – apparently it is very expensive to buy, and now I know from experience that it’s really simple to make yourself! If you’re interested, I followed this tutorial (I used about 1 1/2 cups of cream and 2 Tbsp of plain yogurt) to make it myself and it turned out great!
OK, back to the ice cream! I don’t know if it was the creme fraiche or the fresh local strawberries (or a combination!), but this ice cream was wonderful. It was smooth and creamy and had a delicious strawberries and cream flavor. It was slightly different than a traditional strawberry ice cream and tasted absolutely amazing. I would definitely recommend this recipe if you like to make your own ice cream. Plus, then maybe you can try your hand at homemade creme fraiche! Enjoy! 
Strawberry Creme Fraiche Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar, divided
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
2 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup creme fraicheDirections:
Combine the vanilla seeds and pod, the cream, milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat. In a large bowl, whisk the yolks. Whisk in 1 cup of the warm cream mixture to the egg yolks. Add the yolk mixture back to the cream mixture and cook over low heat, stirring until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain into a heatproof bowl and set into a bowl of ice water. Stir often until cool, about 30 minutes.
Puree half of the strawberries, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the lemon juice in a food processor. Stir the puree and creme fraiche into the cream mixture. Freeze in an ice cream maker. Just before the ice cream is done, add the remaining strawberries and finish freezing.
from Cooking from the Farmer's Market
