Want a truly delicious and tangy low carb lemon ice cream? Look no further than this delicious Lemon Curd Ice Cream recipe. All the great lemon flavor without the carbs. Sugar-free and keto-friendly.
This lemon ice cream recipe has been updated to be easier and better than ever! And I have a few tricks for keeping it soft and scoopable, even days later.
There’s no question that I get obsessed with certain foods from time to time. I like to say that it’s an occupational hazard of being a food blogger who really does dream about food all day. Like a catchy tune, sometimes a flavor or a food item will just get stuck on replay in my head, going around and around until I have to find a new way to use it. Lemon curd has been the tune I’m singing of late, ever since I made some for an Easter brunch with friends. It’s so sweet and tangy, and so…so…lemony, it just screams spring. But here in New England, we skipped over spring entirely and went straight into summer. So my head has also been playing the tune of ice cream and other frozen treats. It wasn’t much of a leap to combine the two and churn up some low carb Lemon Curd Ice Cream.
I’ve seen lemon ice cream made with lemon curd before on other blogs and food sites, and it was pretty easy to figure out how it should be made. Lemon curd takes a lot of eggs as it is, so I knew it wouldn’t be necessary to add more to create a custard-based ice cream. I also really wanted the tang of the lemon curd to come through and not get swallowed up by the cream and the sweetener. I’ve seen some recipes that add a lot more sugar after adding the curd, which is plenty sweet in my opinion. But I kept my additional sweetener to a minimum, to allow for a tangy, creamy frozen treat.
How To Make Lemon Ice Cream
- This recipe now uses my updated low carb lemon curd. And I have to say, it’s all the better for it. The new lemon curd uses whole eggs, so you won’t have any lonely and unused egg whites hanging around.
- Be sure to cook your lemon curd in a glass or ceramic bowl. I find that metal bowls react a bit with the lemon juice to leave a funny metallic tang.
- If you’ve ever made lemon curd before, you know that it’s about getting the eggs and yolks to just the right temperature so that they are cooked through. It will thicken up quickly and suddenly, so make sure you keep your eyes on it at all times!
- Let the curd cool in the fridge before mixing with the whipping cream. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap so it doesn’t develop a skin.
- Once your curd is nicely chilled, you just need to mix in the other ingredients and plop it into your ice cream maker!
Keeping Low Carb Ice Cream Soft
Okay guys, I have been messing around with ice cream lot this summer, trying to figure out the trick to keeping it soft. And I’ve found that my best trick is to use a combo of Swerve Sweetener and Bocha Sweet. Bocha Sweet is a sweetener derived from the kabocha squash, and it’s a pentose sweetener. Xylitol is also a pentose sweetener, so it appears to be similar to that although it’s not toxic to animals according to the website.
I would love to tell you that I am sold on Bocha Sweet as the perfect low carb sweetener. But I am not entirely. So far, it does not seem to affect my blood sugar that much and I have several diabetic readers who’ve recommended it to me and say it works for them. But for some people it can cause some severe stomach upset (at least according to the Amazon reviews!) and while I haven’t experienced that, I am reluctant to try it full strength. It’s also quite expensive – even more so than other low carb sweeteners.
It’s also not a perfect sugar replacement. I tried using it in some low carb meringues and they were a disaster! They never firmed up at all, staying sticky and gooey.
However, I am finding it useful in keeping keto ice cream scoopable and soft. I made one batch of vanilla with just Bocha Sweet and to be honest, it was almost TOO soft and slightly goopy. So then I tried a batch that was half Swerve and half Bocha Sweet and it was firmer but not rock hard. I am still playing with the ratios here but I think a 50/50 or even a 60/40 (in favour of the Bocha Sweet) seems to work well.
So for this keto lemon curd ice cream, I recommend one of two things. Either make your lemon curd with Bocha Sweet and then add some powdered Swerve when you add the whipping cream. Or vice versa: make your lemon curd with Swerve and then add Bocha Sweet as the additional sweetener. The first option will probably give you the softest results.
If you don’t have Bocha Sweet or prefer not to use it, your ice cream will freeze pretty hard but it will soften nicely with a few minutes on the counter. The added vodka can really help.
Want more delicious low carb lemon recipes?
Low Carb Lemon Curd Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup Bocha Sweet, or powdered Swerve Sweetener
- Full recipe Lemon Curd, chilled
- 2 tbsp vodka, optional (helps decrease iciness)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together whipping cream, Bocha Sweet or powdered Swerve, and lemon curd until well combined. Whisk in the vodka, if using.
- Pour mixture into canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, 2 to 3 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Lemon curd on Tuesday, lemon curd ice cream on Thursday. Big Yum! I’ve been using a 1 1/2 qt Cuisinart but requested a larger ice cream maker for Mother’s Day because…one cannot have too much ice cream!
I’ve made this 3 times and this last batch turned out the best…. I added shredded coconut and it was terrific!