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Creamy Lemon Ice Cream

Creamy lemon ice cream made with a bright, intensely lemon-flavored custard base. This homemade lemon custard ice cream is cooked to 175°F, strained for silkiness, then chilled, churned, and frozen until firm.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 minutes
Total Time 39 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 430
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cream base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 0.5 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 ice cream maker
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 fine mesh sieve

Method
 

Make the custard
  1. Heat the heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming, with small bubbles forming at the edges (do not boil).
  2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth, then slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolks to avoid curdling.
  3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175F and coats the back of a spoon.
  4. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a clean container, then stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt until fully combined.
Chill and churn
  1. Cool the custard completely over an ice bath until no longer warm to the touch, stirring occasionally for even cooling (visual cue: pale golden and smooth).
  2. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to fully chill before churning.
  3. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker until it thickens and becomes scoopable, then transfer to a container.
  4. Freeze until firm, about 1–2 hours, so the texture sets into a creamy, dense scoop.

Notes

For the smoothest texture, cook the custard patiently and watch the temperature closely—once it hits 175°F it will thicken without scrambling. Store leftovers covered in the freezer up to 2 weeks; for best scoopability, let sit 5 minutes at room temperature. Freezing is yes, and a dairy-light swap (half-and-half instead of cream) will reduce richness but still works with the same method.