Lactose-Free Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream

Now that I’ve been reunited with my ice cream maker, I’ve decided to make all those ice cream recipes I’ve had bookmarked. I’m trying to make them lactose-free, and sometimes dairy-free. The lemonade ice cream recipe was originally created by Emeril Lagasse, but I found the strawberry adaptation on The Repressed Pastry Chef. They were a nice touch, because I feel the lemonade by itself would get boring after a while. I used lactose-free substitutes for the ingredients. As the Engineer confirmed, this was by far my best ice cream yet; the texture was very creamy, and it was delicious. The taste was rich, but not overpowering and not too sweet. I did add a splash of vodka to the strawberries to prevent them from freezing solid, but it wasn’t enough; feel free to be a bit heavy-handed here. I did throw in a few spoonfuls of plain lactose-free Greek yogurt, but that being said, it wasn’t needed for the consistency at all (I just had it in the fridge and didn’t want it going to waste).

1 ½ cups coconut milk (or the whole 400 mL can)
1 cup soy creamer
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbsp finely grated fresh lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)
5 large egg yolks
½ cup lemon juice (from the same 4 lemons)
1 Tbsp limoncello (optional, I didn’t use it)
1 package strawberries (the exact amount is up to you), chopped
1 dash of sugar
1 splash of vodka




In a medium, heavy saucepan, bring the coconut milk, creamer, sugar and lemon zest to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. In a slow stream, whisking constantly, add about 1 cup of the hot coconut milk mixture to the egg yolks. Beat until well incorporated. Return the yolk mixture to the saucepan with the hot coconut milk and bring to a bare simmer. Cook until a thick custard forms, and the mixture reaches 170 °F on an instant-read thermometer, about 6 minutes. (Do this only if you are worried about the raw eggs; otherwise, you can use pasteurized eggs or forgo the thermometer altogether.) Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Stir in the lemon juice and limoncello, and cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well-chilled, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, put the strawberries in a bowl; sprinkle with sugar and add a dash of vodka. Refrigerate.



Transfer the custard to an ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight plastic container, mix in the strawberries (without the juice) and freeze until ready to serve.





If you are wondering what to do with the remaining 5 egg whites, I suggest egg white crêpes.