Wow has it been HOT! Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot! But this Watermelon Ice Cream is a delicious cure for the heat and it’s just in time for National Watermelon Day! Ok, so if you’re making this ice cream on National Watermelon Day, then you won’t be able to celebrate National Watermelon Day with this recipe because it should sit in the freezer and harden overnight, but you can enjoy it for the rest of the hot summer!   I’m not going to say that this is my best ice cream flavor ever because making ice cream with watermelon is difficult. The water content of the watermelon is very hard to work with, but I still think it’s a tasty ice cream flavor! It’s refreshing and it definitely tastes like watermelon. I just can’t eat more than 2 scoops of it, so if you make this, plan to share with a larger group.

You can also make seeds for the watermelon ice cream using black candy melts or even chocolate! Simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions to melt the candy melts and pipe seeds onto parchment paper and let harden. I usually melt my candy melts in a pastry bag then slice the tip off and draw my design onto parchment paper – it’s easier than melting candy melts in a dish that you’ll later have to clean.

 

 Note: you need an ice cream maker to make this ice cream. Sure, there’s a ton of no-churn ice cream recipes on the internet, but an ice cream maker is going to give you a really creamy and smooth ice cream and for $40-ish consider it an investment for your tastebuds!

You don’t need the most expensive ice cream maker – I have this inexpensive Cuisinart ice cream maker, NOT the type of the line ice cream maker (which actually has some bad reviews), and I really like mine.

I served my watermelon ice cream in green ice cream cones and topped them with seeds, but you could also scoop out half a mini watermelon and use it as a bowl or make watermelon bowls using green candy melts! Any way you serve your Watermelon Ice Cream, enjoy, and stay cool this summer!

Watermelon Ice Cream

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Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 1/2 cups watermelon juice
• 1 tsp vodka
• optional: green ice cream cones
• optional: black candy melts for "seeds"

Instructions

1. Slice a mini watermelon into chunks, blend the chunks on high, and strain to get 1-1.5 cups of watermelon juice.
2. Combine the milk, heavy whipping cream, half the sugar, salt, and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking intermittently.
3. While heating, combine the egg yolks and the other half of sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine.
4. When the milk mixture has come to a boil, pour ⅓ of it into the egg mixture and stir. Then pour another ⅓ and stir, and then the final ⅓ and stir.
5. Add the lime juice and watermelon juice and stir.
6. Next, pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, but do NOT let it come to a boil.
7. Then transfer the mixture to a new, clean bowl, allow it to come to room temperature, and then refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
8. After the mixture is chilled, follow the manufacturer's instructions on your ice cream maker to make the ice cream.
9. Freeze overnight for firmer ice cream in a freezer safe container.
10. Serve in green ice cream cones with black candy melt "seeds."
11. Enjoy!

 Oh, and click HERE for a free printable of this recipe from the talented La Luisa Illustrations to hang in your kitchen for summer!

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