The creamiest Fresh Lemon Custard Ice Cream that’s a summer must try! It’s like no other ice cream you’ve had, homemade or store-bought. The tart, citrus flavor is unique and so refreshing because it’s made with fresh lemon juice in the lemon curd. The Lemon curd turns into a creamy lemon custard, then frozen until it’s perfectly delicious.
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Custard-Based Ice Cream
I love custard-based ice cream. So thick and rich. So creamy. Luscious! So pleasing to the tongue and the tummy!
Now, don’t get me wrong, the ease of a no churn ice cream is awesome. I even have a recipe on the blog for one, Coffee Toffee Ice Cream. But, for texture, an old fashioned custard ice cream simply can’t be beat!
And this Lemon Ice Cream is one of my favorites! Tangy, tart lemon, offsetting sweet cream. Not too sweet. Oh, this one is just so good!
Meyer Lemons or Regular Lemons?
If you have Meyer Lemons, it’s even better!
This past winter I was given bags of Meyer Lemons by my friends and family, so I zested and juiced them and froze that zest and juice in ice cube trays. Learn how to freeze and save your lemons here.
I’m still using those sweet lemons now! I just take out some of the lemon ice cubes, defrost them in the microwave, and measure out what I need for the recipe.
Any extra defrosted lemon juice goes into a glass of water for me to drink. And the zest stays in the freezer as well. I just break off any measurement I need and pop the rest back in the freezer.
Lemon Extract
You’ve seen me talk about lemon extract before. I use it in almost all of my lemon recipes. I love it because it helps brighten the lemon flavor in all your desserts.
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Lemon Ice Cream Recipe
Lemon Ice Cream
refreshing because it’s made with fresh lemon juice in the lemon curd.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice from 5-6 large lemons
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large whole eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 cups light cream or whipping cream
- pinch salt
Instructions
- In a large metal bowl or the top of a double boiler, combine lemon juice, butter, eggs, and sugar. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; whisk until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. Allow the lemon curd to cool slightly, and stir in the extract, cream, and salt. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.
- Stir the cold custard well, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft, like soft serve. For firmer ice cream, freezer at least 2 hours.
This is absolutely amazing! We are making it for a second time!
This sounds so light and fresh and perfect for summer.
What a cool and refreshing treat! Looking forward to enjoying this all summer long!
This lemon ice cream looks so refreshing and delicious! I’m a huge fan of lemon so I can’t wait to make this! Thanks for sharing,
I love lemon flavoured everything. I made a lemon ice cream once for Easter it was a hit. This sounds wonderful, and I would love some on the patio right now.
I’d love a bowl of this lemon ice-cream right now! It looks so creamy and delicious! Pinning for later!
This turned out fantastic! Lemon is one of my favourite flavours and I’m always trying out different lemon desserts, this one is a keeper for sure! I made the recipe as-is and wouldn’t change a thing! The only thing I added was some lemon zest but it ended up getting stuck between the paddle and the bowl of my ice cream maker so none of it actually ended up in the final product, so for anyone wondering if they could add lemon zest don’t bother. The texture of this ice cream is seriously incredible. Right out of the machine it was a bit like soft serve but way too runny, and even after I had it in the freezer for 4 hours it was still too soft so it melted really fast once it was scooped out. But after leaving it overnight it was absolutely perfect. Creamy, easy to scoop, not icy – just perfection. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
This sounds fantastic! Trying to figure out what a “serving” is though. The nutritional information give everything but the actual serving size. 1/4 cup? 1/3 cup? 1/2 cup?
Lisa, thanks for the question. I think of a serving of ice cream as about 1/2 cup. I’ll add it to the recipe card too. Thanks!
Looks delicious and I want to try it, but I am unsure if the recipe calls for whole eggs or just the egg yolks. I have never made a lemon curd that used the egg yolks and the whites.
Sharon, The recipe calls for whole eggs. I’ll go back and update the recipe card so that it’s more clear as well. Enjoy!
Hi I stumbled on this recipe and I have made it several times now. If you sub regular sugar for allulose, then this is the perfect keto/ diabetic ice cream. Also, I made this recipe exactly the same except I subbed freshly made passionfruit pulp for the lemon and made the most divine keto passionfruit ice cream. Thank you again for this recipe!
This ice cream look little tangy. But I like the flavor of this ice cream. Thank you so much for this.
Do you have to use an ice cream freezer or can it simply be put into the freezer in a container to freeze?
Mary, the ice cream machine give the ice cream the creamy soft texture that you want from ice cream. I highly recommend using the machine. If you just can’t buy a machine, you can still get ice cream without it but the texture won’t be as nice. Put the final mixture into a freezer safe container with some extra room for stirring. Pop that in the freezer, tightly covered. Stir that every 30 minutes or so for 3 to 4 hours, or until frozen.