Makes about 1 quart

1-1/2 cups cream

¾ cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1 to 1-1/2 pint baskets strawberries

Vanilla extract to taste

Heat the cream with ½ cup of the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Whisk the egg yolks just enough to break them up and slowly stir some of the warm cream to temper the yolks. Return to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the spoon, 165°F. Remove from heat, strain into a bowl and chill thoroughly.

Rinse, dry and hull the strawberries. Crush fine with a potato masher or in a food processor, leaving some texture. Measure out 1-1/2 cups and add the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Refrigerate for an hour or so, stirring several times to dissolve the sugar.

Mix the purée and the custard and season with vanilla extract, ¼ to ½ teaspoon or so. Freeze according to the directions with your ice cream maker.

Peach Ice Cream

Follow the method for strawberry ice cream, but use 1 pound of good, very ripe peaches. Pit, peel and slice the peaches thinly and let the slices macerate with the sugar before making a rough purée. Add to the custard, season with vanilla and chill well before freezing.