Lychee Ice Cream

Lychee Ice Cream is pure tropical deliciousness — it's rich, ultra-creamy, and full of the floral sweetness of fresh lychees. With subtle nutty undertones and a refreshing flavor, it's the perfect way to celebrate lychee season (late spring through mid-summer).

Lychee season is typically mid-May through July, and I always take advantage of it.

Lychees have an unmatched tropical flavor that's not to be missed, and if I'm not eating them directly from their skins, they go in ice cream. This ice cream!

The tropical flavor of lychees is floral with a slight hint of nuttiness, and when you swirl that into rich and creamy ice cream, it creates a magical dessert.

While I love using fresh lychee, it's also perfectly okay to use canned lychees, which are quite easy to find. This saves time and allows you to make it year-round.

The Lychee: The Key Ingredient

Except for the lychee, all of the ingredients in this recipe are the usual ice cream suspects: milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, etc.

• Lychees are native to southern China, although they are grown in tropical climates all over the world.
• Just a bit bigger than an average-sized grape, there are dozens of lychee varieties. Use any variety you like for this recipe. I used Green Lychees (from Melissa's Produce). These green lychees are unique because typically, green skin indicates the fruit is unripe—most lychees turn a stunning reddish-pink color as they ripen.
• Whatever color they are, their skin is slightly bumpy and the flesh is translucent and white, and they have dark brown seeds.
• Both the skins and seeds are inedible and should be discarded.
• As I mentioned above, they have a tropical floral flavor. Their texture is soft and chewy.
• Choose lychees that are firm with a very slight amount of give when pressed. They should not be too soft.

* IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CANNED LYCHEES * If you choose to use canned lychees, try to buy those that do not have any added sugar (i.e., not in syrup). They're not as easy to find as canned lychees in syrup. If you can only find them in syrup, be sure to drain them especially well, and remove 2 tablespoons of sugar from the recipe. If you do find them without syrup, still drain them, but save about 1 tablespoon of the juice and add it to the recipe.

How to Make Lychee Ice Cream

- Peel and seed the lychees gently with your fingers. If your fingernails are too short, just start it with the tip of a paring knife. Split the skin vertically down the side to carefully remove the seed. It should come out easily. Here is a detailed photographic guide for peeling and seeding lychees.

- Add the peeled and seeded lychee to a food processor with the blade attachment and purée until it's as smooth as possible. It will not be 100% smooth and it will have a fairly thin consistency. Set aside.

- Pour the milk, cream, and vanilla into a medium-sized saucepan, and scald it over medium heat. Tiny bubbles will appear on the edges of the pot and it should be very hot, but not boiling. Remove from the heat to cool.

- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer or a whisk to whip the egg yolks with the sugar and salt. Mix until it's very thick and pale yellow. It's done when you can drizzle it with a spoon and it rests for a few seconds before sinking into the rest of the mixture -- this is called the "ribbon stage."

- Slowly pour about half of the slightly cooled milk mixture into the egg mixture, and stir until it's mixed in. Now pour this mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. Over low-medium heat, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until it becomes a thick beautiful custard, about 12 minutes. You'll know the custard is ready when it coats the back of a spoon without falling off.

Recipe Tip: It's important to stir continually. It doesn't have to be constant, but don't let the mixture sit for more than several seconds at a time. Stirring frequently helps prevent curdling.

* PRO TIP * When you're cooking the custard, if it does curdle at all, don't panic -- there's a great fix that works really well. If you notice small lumps beginning to form, quickly pour it from the pot into a blender and pulse it for about 5 seconds. This should smooth the mixture. You can also do this in a bowl with a hand mixer. Be careful not to over-mix, because it can become irreversibly too thin.

- Remove from the heat immediately, let it cool for about 10 minutes, and then stir in the lychee purée. Let this cool, stirring from time to time, for about 2 hours.

- Pour into an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, and ideally overnight.

- Then freeze according to your ice cream machine's directions. Then pour the ice cream into an airtight container to store in the freezer. (This is my favorite ice cream storage container.)

* ICE CREAM MAKER TIPS * 1) Always read the manual for your ice cream machine before you begin. Most ice cream machine bowls take at least 12 hours to completely freeze. Put your bowl in the freezer the night before you want to make the ice cream. 2) If you want to double the recipe, you'll likely have to do this in two batches, unless you have a particularly large ice cream machine. An average-sized machine usually holds 1½ quarts.

Variations

• Add chocolate. Add about ½ cup of mini chocolate chips to the ice cream. Do this after it's churned and before you place it in the freezer. Alternately, drizzle it with your favorite chocolate sauce.
• Almond version. Use almond extract instead of the vanilla. Almond and lychee are a dreamy pair, and it'll enhance their already nut-like flavor.

Storing Homemade Ice Cream

• These airtight containers are generally the best option for storing ice cream.
• You can also reuse plastic pint gelato containers with screw-on lids.
• Cake and loaf pans are also a great option. If you go this route, press a piece of plastic wrap, wax paper, or parchment paper directly onto the surface of the ice cream, then wrap the whole thing with plastic wrap.
• The ice cream will be at its best within the first month of freezing, though it'll keep for a few months or so.

More Must-Try Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

Enjoy! I hope you love this lychee ice cream as much as my family and I do!

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