Are you guys watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix? I’ve been trying not to burn through the episodes, but I mean…I love a good binge watching session and for the last 2 nights Sean and I have been watching after we put Casper down for the night. (Side-note: he’s sleeping through the night most nights now…HALLELUJAH! Queue the choir of angels)! Anyway, I kind of love it. It’s a little cheesy in my favorite way, the theme song includes the line “Females are strong as hell!” (TRUE), and I always loved Ellie Kemper as Erin in The Office, plus Tina Fey is amazing, so needless to say I’ve become a quick fan of the show. Anyway, I feel like this ice cream might be something that would blow Kimmy’s mind and definitely elicit one of her 90’s throwback exclamations (possibly my favorite thing about her character).
I mean, this ice cream has a lot of good, exciting things happening: Lemon-scented vanilla bean ice cream base, tart meyer lemon curd ripples, and crunchy, buttery shortbread cookie crumbles! I definitely used the homemade Meyer Lemon Curd I shared last week, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use store-bought. It’s creamy, rich, sweet, tangy, and has a ton of texture and totally tastes like the ice cream version of a classic lemon bar without making a batch of lemon bars and churning them into a batch of ice cream. So, “By the power vested in me as an adult who is a grown-up”, maybe have ice cream for dinner (PS, don’t ever tell my son I okay’ed that). #hasbrown-nofilter
[recipe]
Lemon Bar Ice Cream
This ice cream is a riff on my favorite, easy ice cream base from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home.
If you don’t have a vanilla bean, go ahead and use 2 teaspoons of extract and skip the steeping portion of the recipe.
2 cups whole milk
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup Meyer Lemon Curd
1 1/2 cups crumbled, store-bought shortbread cookies
Prepare an ice bath in a clean sink basin or a large bowl.
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch, set slurry aside. Set the cream cheese in a large bowl and stir in the salt, place a mesh strainer over the top. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat remaining milk with the cream. Scrape the vanilla beans from the pod and add both the scraped beans and pod to the milk and cream, as well as the lemon zest. Heat to a simmer, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk mixture and add sugar and corn syrup, reheat to a low boil. Quickly whisk in the cornstarch slurry and continue to boil, whisking, until thickened. Whisk a ladleful of the hot mixture into the cream cheese, before straining the remaining hot mixture into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine. Prepare an ice bath and pour the hot ice cream base into a large plastic bag. Chill bag in ice bath until cooled and process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.
Once the ice cream is processed, layer 1/3 of the ice cream in the bottom of a lidded container, spoon 1/3 of the lemon curd over the top and sprinkle with 1/3 of the crumbled shortbread cookies. Repeat these steps with the remaining ice cream, curd, and cookies. Fit the lid over the container and freeze for several hours, until set. Serve with additional cookies and lemon curd, if you want. [/recipe]
Umm…yes, please!! I love this idea!
Thanks! 🙂
lemon. bar. ice. cream. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING??? this is like, the best combo dessert i’ve seen yet. amazing!!!
It’s REAL LIFE!
YES! I just blew threw this show in 2 days…I just wish there was more of it! The ice cream looks pretty on point, too 🙂
Me too!
Ahh, I’ve been waiting for this one!!! The ice cream looks dreamy with all that lemon curd on top and chunks of shortbread everywhere. I haven’t heard of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt yet, but it sounds like something I need to add to my list!
It’s pretty great! I think if you’re a 30 rock fan at all, it’s a good one.
I looooooove citrus flavours – especially at this time of year – and this ice cream looks like something I’d fall head over tails for. Pinning!
Citrus is such a bright spot before the spring transition, I totally agree!
Well, this looks incredible. Those pretty green dishes, too! I haven’t caught UKS, yet, but I can just tell I’ll love it when I start watching. I’m currently binge-watching Alias and I can’t get enough of the early 2000’s fashion and Bradley Cooper. Streaming tv allows me to watch the strangest mix of things.
Oh my. This is SO up my ally! Adore lemon bars. Adore ice cream. HAPPENING.
Alley* not ally
I am only allowing myself an episode or two of Kimmy a day! Or else I will be left with no nap time/late night tv to watch. I am also reading Amy Poehler’s book so I am soooo on an awesome lady kick! This ice cream is everything! I need a GD ice cream maker!
What a terrific ice cream flavor! I love lemon bars, so I’m sure I’d love a bowl of this too 🙂
this is the ice cream of my DREAMS. i haven’t watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt yet, but it sounds hilarious and right up my alley!
This ice cream looks SO GOOD. And I love The Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt!!
This looks so yummy! I am so excited to start watching that show!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Whoah; this sounds amazing!! I could probably eat the whole batch myself– if you promise not to tell 😉
Love this idea of cool ice cream with sweet and sour lemon. This ice cream sounds lovely.
This is amazing recipe!
Hehe! oh my goodness that show. “UNBREAK-ABLE …she’s a MEER-acle!!” the theme song pops up into my head more often in a day that i would like! LOVE how wacky and wild it is… so many bizarro references that i wonder how a teen could understand any of the jokes in the show… i have been trying to savour watching it!! You are also murdering me here with lemon bar ice cream. Tang and texture – will you please come cook for me??? ^__^
PS … YAY for Casper almost sleeping through! I remember that being a dream feeling. did i ever mention to you that Casper was on my baby name list? Love it, so cute! Keep on snoozin’, Casper! xo
OMG…that song gets so stuck in my head! Ha! And yes, I am so happy he’s sleeping, it’s like a miracle… and funny, I totally had Teddy on my baby name list!
I got through the whole season in one week! (Embarrassing but HEY.) I have to say… I don’t love it as much as I loved 30 Rock. But then Netflix told me to watch Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 and I’ve been enjoying that a lot more for some reason. James van der Beek playing himself in a sitcom is nothing short of brilliant and I love him so much now.
ANYWAY. I want this ice cream in my face!
My boyfriend’s mom got me the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid for Christmas, and we haven’t used it yet but now it’s starting to get warm out… plus I just discovered Meyer lemons yesterday… I think it’s a sign!!
Quick question, about how much does this make? I want to make sure it will fit in my container 🙂
It makes about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts. Sorry, I don’t have the exact volume, it really depends on the mix-in ratio.
This is delicious recipe! I love that.