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close up of strawberry cheesecake ice cream with fresh strawberry.
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5 from 2 votes

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

The iconic flavors of strawberry cheesecake in ice cream form! Strawberry cheesecake ice cream has swirls of fresh strawberry sauce and graham cracker chunks.
Yield: about 1 ½ quarts
Prep Time15 minutes
Inactive Chilling Time2 hours 15 minutes
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Maryanne Cabrera

Equipment

  • food processor
  • ice cream maker

Ingredients

Cheesecake Ice Cream:

  • 1 lemon, finely grated zest
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
  • 8 oz brick-style cream cheese (227 g)
  • ½ cup sour cream (120 g)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk (285 g)
  • ¾ cup heavy cream (170 g)
  • 6 full sheets graham crackers (96 g), roughly chopped

Strawberry Sauce:

  • ½ cup sliced hulled fresh strawberries (85 g)
  • ¼ oz freeze dried strawberries (8 g)
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 g)

Instructions

Cheesecake Ice Cream:

  • Use your fingers to rub finely grated lemon zest into the granulated sugar. Set aside.
  • In a large food processor, puree together cream cheese, sour cream, lemon sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth.
  • Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed. With the food processor running on slow speed, slowly add milk and heavy cream. Continue to mix until well combined and smooth.
  • Transfer mixture to an airtight container. Store in the fridge and let mature overnight. (If pressed for time, let chill in the fridge for 1 hour before churning.)

Strawberry Sauce:

  • Puree fresh strawberries, freeze dried strawberries, and granulated sugar in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.* (Mixture will thicken as it sits and cools.)

Assembly:

  • Churn ice cream base according to your ice cream maker unit's instructions* until volume has increased by half.
  • Once the volume has increased by half and the mixture has reached a soft serve consistency, add graham crackers. Churn for another 1 to 2 minutes to distribute the crackers.
  • Gather 2-quart freezer safe ice cream container, fresh churned ice cream, and prepared strawberry sauce.
  • Add ⅓ of fresh churned ice cream to bottom of container. Dollop generous 2 tablespoons strawberry sauce over ice cream. Use a chopstick or knife to swirl in strawberry sauce.
  • Layer another ⅓ of ice cream over strawberry sauce. Dollop another generous 2 tablespoons strawberry sauce. Swirl sauce into ice cream.
  • Add remaining ⅓ ice cream and spread into an even layer. Add remaining strawberry sauce. Swirl sauce into ice cream. Cover container and keep in the freezer for at least 45 minutes before serving.

Notes

*Strawberry sauce recipe makes about ½ cup (8 Tablespoons). Sauce can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. 
*It takes about 30 minutes to churn ice cream using this compression ice cream machine mentioned in the blog post. 
Storage & Leftovers: Keep homemade ice cream covered (preferably in an airtight container) in the coldest part the freezer for up to two weeks.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 223mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 472IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 186mg | Iron: 1mg