- Merrill
It's funny how often there are early indications of the profession a child will pursue as an adult. According to my mother, there were more than a few telltale signs during my youth suggesting that a career in food and cooking might be in my future. One involved a long-lasting obsession with the "Little House" books, which chronicled the lives of the Ingalls family, who lived on the American frontier; the books were peppered with wonderful passages about Pa building a smokehouse, Ma churning her own butter and coloring the white slab with carrot juice, and their daughters Laura and Mary dribbling hot maple syrup onto tin pie plates piled high with fresh snow to make candy.
There were other hints too. When I was six years old, we went to the Bahamas on a family vacation. One night, we were served the most delicious lime ice cream any of us had ever tasted; it was tart and quite sweet, with lots of fragrant lime zest and an underlying richness from pure cream. With a little encouragement from my parents, I managed to pluck up the courage to ask for the recipe, which I then transcribed -- in my shaky, 6-year-old print -- onto the small slip of paper that you see below. My mother keeps the scrap to this day, pasted in among other favorites in her "Desserts" binder.
It's a mix-and-freeze operation, perfect for hot weather, and there is no custard involved. The results are truly delicious. I've reduced the sugar and added a little more cream as my taste has matured. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did -- and perhaps it may even inspire another 6-year-old to turn to a career in food!
The Best Lime Ice Cream
Makes about 3 cups
Wanted something light and refreshing for dessert on a hot summer night and this did the trick. Made it the night before, cleared space in the freezer, gave it a stir every now and then and kept it well covered. It froze and thickened quite nicely. Mostly, I love that you don't need a machine! I don't need another big gizmo that there's no space for in kitchen cupboards!
Looking forward to many repeats of this and trying it with orange instead of lime for a Creamsicle effect! Thanks for sharing, Merrill!
It's finally--FINALLY!--ice cream weather here (Seattle) and too hot to cook indoors. Tonight's dinner was lime-centric: Skirt steaks sprinkled generously with adobo seasoning, briefly marinated in some bottled Cuervo margarita mix (the only thing it's good for is this marinade) doctored up with fresh lime and crushed garlic, then grilled quickly and sliced for fajitas (the yellow bell peppers, onions and flour tortillas--HomesickTexan's recipe--were also grilled); a fruit mixture of cantaloupe and watermelon balls, halved Rainier cherries and blueberries in a lime simple syrup; and the lime ice cream with coconut shortbread cookies. OMG! It's a good thing I doubled the recipe is all I can say. Tart, tangy, sweet--but not too--and creamy: It IS perfect. Here's what I did: I did your reduced-sugar version and mixed it with the lime juice with a stick blender until I couldn't feel the grains of sugar, then stirred in the cream and zest by hand, threw the bowl in the freezer and stirred the mixture the couple of times I grabbed more ice for my tea. It was servable in about three hours, and we don't like our ice cream really hard anyway so we thought the soft creaminess was spot-on. Liz--I'll do the Meyer lemon version this weekend to go with chili-grilled shrimp. Thanks for the idea. Merrill, tell your parents I said "thanks" for prodding you. It's definitely a go-to recipe. And think of the possibilities--lemon, lime and Meyer lemon bombes; with raspberries and warm biscuits; with madeleines and strawberries. Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe and subsequent posts brought back lovely memories of reading "Little House In the Woods" and LIW's description of maple 'ice cream' - just freshly made maple syrup and snow. I always wanted to try it!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoMe too!
What a great story. I will tell you - as an early childhood specialist, that I have NEVER seen a 6 year old in this day and age print like that... you were a smart little cookie way back then!
XO
Valerie
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoWell, thank you very much! On the flip side, I didn't walk until I was more than 18 months old.
I think one reason there is so much emphasis on food--making it, storing it, eating it--in the Little House books is that the family went hungry on more than one occasion. I shall make the lime ice cream this week--just the thing to accompany fresh strawberries.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoGood point. And love your handle! We all think it's very clever.
I used to stare at the cover of Little House in the Big Woods when I was a girl. There is a Little House cookbook.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI KNOW! I own it.
Looks ah-mazing! I was wondering whether using full fat plain yogurt/Greek yogurt would work in place of heavy cream? I'm lactose intolerant but can have yogurt b/c the lactose enzymes are digested by the good bacteria :)
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoIt may get a little icy in the freezer, but it's probably worth a try. Let me know if you decide to make it!
Awwww. That's so sweet!
I just love the stories that go with the recipes, just one of the reasons I love cookbooks by Julia and Dorie. And yes, Amanda and Merrill, you two are right up there on that same pedestal. Had I seen this recipe without the story, I don't know that I'd try it, and I just happen to have a bowl of limes and a carton of cream on hand. I have no doubt that the recipe is as lovely as the accompanying story, but I'll be back in a few to let you know for sure.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you for the lovely compliment! How did the ice cream turn out?
Definitely bringing back some nice memories. Thanks for the post!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoYou're welcome!
I think of Laura baking her wedding cake whenever I attempt baking. She would scoff at all our mod cons, I am sure, but I bet she wouldn't give up having a nice slab of home baked cake - or lovely lime ice cream. Remember the Thanksgiving Feast that arrived in a barrel on the train in The Long Winter? Such bliss for the long deprived family. It is so nice to read how important her books were to so many of us. I also loved the Edward Eager books - that's where I discovered Lady Baltimore Cakes, and how to defeat a dragon using household cleaning products!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThat was a great one; I'd forgotten about Thanksgiving in a barrel!
Merrill, you are rock-a-licious.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you so much! The feeling is mutual.
Oh, man. This brings back memories of being in girl scouts and making ice cream at camp with the old-fashioned "roll the iced barrel from person to person" method. Lesson: Everything tastes better when you work for it!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoSo true!
Yum! I've been unable to clear out enough space in the freezer for my circa 1982 Donvivier (aka The Don) ice cream maker (note not it's not a machine it's a maker), so as an experiment I froze a similar ice cream concoction in ice cube trays and then whirred them in the cuisanart. it worked! smooth texture and super easy, the 2nd time I put the blade in the freezer as well, tried a sorbet & a buttermilk based ice cream and it worked.
I'm going to try my ad hoc ice cream technique with this, as soon as I clear out the embarrassing amount of ice cream that is already in the freezer at the moment.
Will go so nicely with cherry sorbet recipe I never got around to posting. Like a frozen creamy lime rickey
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoCool! I love the sound of your technique and will try it ASAP.
I love seeing your handwritten recipe. I have recipes I treasure so much - one for doughnuts and another for sugar cookies - both written in my great, great grandma's handwriting. Sometimes I feel like a hoarder, but it's times like this I feel it's so wonderful!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoMmm...The idea of your grandmother's homemade doughnuts is so delicious!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoWe ate this for breakfast at our photo shoot today and I plan to have it as punctuation to the day as well. And maybe for breakfast tomorrow, too...
Little House 100% inspired my love of cooking, too -- and all of my DIY & crafty impulses! There was a PBS reality show that recreated life on the prairie about 9 or 10 years ago. I *begged* my family to audition with me (they were only taking family units, not individuals), but they refused.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoYou mean they weren't up for making their own straw hats?!
I loved LIW's descriptions of the food that she ate (and what her husband ate as a child...what a difference) that I actually stole the Little House Cookbook from the public library as a 7 year old. It was the only thing I ever stole. I discovered the book while perusing the other kids cookbooks and could not bear the thought of returning it...somehow it never dawned on me to ask my mother to purchase this book for me (I had all the other Little House books) and while Jordache jeans were verboten books were encouraged.
I love your Bahamian story! I vacationed to Treasure Cay as a child and your story of the lime ice cream brought back memories...delicious recipe too!
consider yourself forgiven...
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoAbsolved!
Enid Blyton! Haven't thought of those books in years - still wanting a "tuck-box"...Notice how many responses to an ice cream recipe as opposed to all those healthy squash ones ;) Meyer lemon ice cream attempt/debut this weekend.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoKeep us posted!
Merrill, I love this recipe and your scribble! I love reading all the reminiscing of Laura Ingalls Wilder books too! Great memories…thank all for sharing them.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks so much!
It IS the Best--and thank heavens we held onto that little "scrap"--most valuable! Merrill, one week you should post your "first" original recipe--"Cinnamon Toast with a Twist"!
XO, Mum
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoHA! Think I'll spare everyone that one.
HUGE Enid Blyton fan here too!!
Can't wait to try the ice cream, looks delicious.
Oh yes, indeed!
I've never read the "Little House" books. But I think Enid Blyton made up for the deprivation. I used to love her books, where kids could have such great adventures on their own, and they always had delicious food, whether at a farm, a caravan or a secret island.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThose were the best -- especially Malory Towers, with all those strawberry and cream teas. And "ices!"
And midnight feasts!!
I actually wrote a letter to Enid Blyton once asking how I could join this wonderful school : ) I was so crushed when my parents told me it was not real.
Oh, I recently did a blog post centred around Midnight feasts at Malory towers. I adored Enid blyton and she made me long to flatten myself and slip into the pages of her books!
Laura Ingalls Wilder really was one of the original food writers, wasn't she? No wonder I loved those books so much. The recipe sounds amazing and the childhood scribbles are so charming!
The other thing that Merrill always used to talk about from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (my old battered ones) was "Roasting Meat"! A LOT of talk about ROASTING!
Oh wow..........Remind me not to throw any of my kids scribblings away. (Your mother is a TREASURE.) And this sounds absolutely delicious. I wonder how it would turn out with some pure coconut cream!!!!!!! Once I come off my diet :-), this is one to make! And that's not bad handwriting for a 6 year old!
This recipe is a treasure - be sure to save it and make with your children one day! I wonder if I could make this with Meyer lemons...
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI bet that would be delicious!
I absolutely love this story, and am so enchanted with the image of a 6-year old painstakingly writing down a recipe. I also second the Meyer lemons - it would taste wonderful, wouldn't it?
I love the story. I too, remember reading all the Little House books and remember how much time was devoted to making food and especially how delicious that maple sugar sounded (esp to a little California girl). I like lime anything...this sounds like a great summer treat!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI still pick up those books from time to time and read one of the many food passages.
Looks terrific and am glad no custard is necessary. But will regular old white sugar really dissolve in cream without heat?
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoBelieve it or not, it does -- you just need to give it a few minutes. I think the acid from the lime juice helps.
Lovely recipe with a great story. Definitely making this one soon.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks!
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