Beat The Alabama Heat with This Frozen Treat - Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Custard

Set aside 6 to 8 strawberries and puree the rest in a blender until smooth. If using fresh or unsweetened frozen strawberries, thaw first in a large bowl. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Dice the 6-8 strawberries you put aside and add them to the puree.

Pour the puree into a 2-cup measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of puree. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to start and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if needed. I recommend adding a little lemon juice to taste. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use

Custard:

In the bowl of a stand or hand mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese, egg yolks, pudding mix and sugar until light and fluffy (about two-five minutes). Stir in sweetened condensed milk.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the heavy whipping cream to the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). DO NOT ALLOW THE MILK TO BOIL! If you have a kitchen thermometer you can check that the temperature remains at about 185°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, take care to remove the saucepan from the heat or to lower the heat if you see that the milk starts to boil. Remove from heat. Transfer the fluffy egg, sugar, and cream cheese mixture to a saucepan. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Keep mixing during this process. In this way you are pasteurizing the eggs. Return to heat and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon and stays in place when you run your finger through it. ALWAYS STIRRING AND NOT BOILING. If any lumps do form, strain the mixture.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and the cold milk. Mix well. Cool the custard mixture to room temperature then finish cooling in the refrigerator until it’s ice cold, 3-4 hrs. or overnight.

Once cooled, stir strawberries and cool whip into the custard mixture then pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to directions for the ice cream machine. It will take about 40 minutes. After the necessary time, your frozen custard is ready! Fresh, silky, rich, and creamy.

Once the custard was done freezing, I put the canister in the freezer overnight to firm up so it would hold its shape better for the pictures. I think it actually tasted better the next day than right after it was done freezing in the ice cream machine.

Top with crushed graham crackers and more strawberry puree