Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Cantaloupe ice cream is the kind of summer dessert that makes you wonder why melon ice cream isn’t on every menu. The ripest cantaloupe you can find gets puréed smooth, then folded into a custard-style base with egg yolks, milk, sugar, and a splash of lemon juice that brightens the melon’s natural sweetness.

The lemon juice is doing crucial work. Cantaloupe alone can taste flat and one-note when frozen, but a quarter cup of fresh lemon juice cuts the heaviness and makes the melon flavor pop. Skip it and the ice cream tastes oddly muted.

The folded-in whipped cream is the no-ice-cream-maker shortcut. Two cups of cream, already aerated, prevents the mixture from freezing into an icy brick by trapping air the way a churn would. The mid-freeze beat in the mixer breaks up any ice crystals that have formed, which is the secret to a smooth, scoopable texture.

Use the ripest, most fragrant melon you can find. If you can smell it from across the kitchen, you’ve got the right one. Underripe cantaloupe makes thin, watery ice cream.

Pro Tips

• Purée the melon completely smooth with no chunks, the bits will freeze hard and ruin the texture.
• The mid-freeze beating is essential, this is what gives the ice cream its creamy texture without a churn.
• Use a freezer-safe metal pan, it chills faster than glass or plastic.
• Let the ice cream sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before scooping, it firms up hard in the freezer.

Variations

• Swap cantaloupe for honeydew or watermelon for different melon varieties.
• Add a tablespoon of finely minced fresh mint or basil to the purée for an herbal twist.
• Stir in a quarter cup of bourbon or rum for a spiked adult version (alcohol also keeps the texture softer).