For the full cheesecake experience, spoon your favorite fruit topping —or fresh fruit—over this decadent ice cream.
2 | 8-ounce packages | cream cheese* |
1 | cup | buttermilk |
1/4 | cup | lemon juice |
2 | cups | heavy cream |
1 1/2 | cups | sugar |
6 | whole eggs | |
2 | teaspoons | vanilla |
*Do not use low or non-fat cream cheese. |
Place a strainer and a clean bowl close at hand.
- Break the cream cheese in to small pieces and put them in the bowl of your electric mixer. Add the buttermilk and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture, cream, and sugar into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very hot to the touch.
- Whisk the eggs together in a spacious, heat-tolerant bowl. Temper the eggs by slowly adding one cup of the hot cream mixture while whisking vigorously.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and whisk the eggs into the saucepan, creating custard. Stir constantly until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Immediately strain into a clean bowl.
- Allow the custard to cool to room temperature (approximately one hour).
- Add the vanilla and mix well.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4–6 hours, or overnight.
- Place the cold custard in the canister of your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer the ice cream to a container, cover, and freeze for at least four hours to firm up.
NOTE: For best flavor, always remove ice cream from the freezer 20 minutes before serving, or place it in the microwave for 20 seconds.