Made with fresh lemon juice and zest and plenty of crunchy poppy seeds, this lemon poppy seed ice cream recipe is creamy, citrusy perfection. I love a good muffin for breakfast, and lemon poppy seed is my absolute favorite (no word of a lie). This is another simple adaptation of my favorite custard ice cream base. Made with milk, eggs, cream, and sugar, all you have to do is add the lemon juice and zest to get a bright citrus flavor.
Homemade Lemon Ice Cream with Poppy Seeds
Back when I first started making ice cream, I knew I wanted to translate my favorite muffin flavor into a cold dessert. My first attempt was in my old Cuisinart bowl freeze machine without any stabilizer. It tasted right, but the texture was a mess—icy, grainy, and more like a lemon slushie than ice cream. Turns out, that’s a pretty common outcome when you’re working with acidic, low-fat mix-ins and a machine that isn’t churning fast enough to keep ice crystals small. (If that’s happened to you too, I’ve got a whole post on why ice cream turns icy and how to fix it.)
Once I upgraded my equipment and dialed in the stabilizer, the difference was night and day. It turned out creamy, scoopable, and punchy. So after a bit of refining, here’s the version I make today.
Here are the final specs for this batch. This is a premium/super premium ice cream that’s soft and scoopable straight from the freezer.
- Total Fat: 15%
- Total Sugars: 19%
- MSNF: 10%
- Water: 59%
- POD: 142
If you want to understand what these numbers mean and how to adjust them for your own recipes, my base ratio guide covers it all.
Wait to Add the Lemon Juice and Poppy Seeds
While adding the lemon zest early infuses the base with flavor, adding the juice too early is risky. Lemon juice is very acidic, and it can curdle the dairy. This will not only lead to an off flavor, but also a chunky, rubbery texture. Wait until you’re ready churn to add the juice right into the cold base.
As for the poppy seeds, I like to wait to add them until just before churning as well. This preserves their crunchy texture and prevents them from all sinking to the bottom as they settle. They add a subtle nutty flavor to the base, but the crunch is what really makes them shine.
Pro Tip: Don’t Age this One
I’ll be honest, time got ahead of me when I was shooting this recipe. I left the base in my fridge for two days (this is totally safe to do, by the way!). Chilling overnight is normal and expected. What I don’t recommend is aging the base an extra day or two beyond that. Mine picked up a cheesecake-like tang that overpowered the lemon flavor in the end. Fortunately, I’ve made this recipe many times before and am still confident it’ll turn out as expected if you don’t make the same mistake I did. Then again, if you’re after a cheesecake flavor, give it a go and see what you think.
Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g cane sugar
- 0.3 g guar gum ⅛ tsp, optional
- 60 g skim milk powder
- 400 g whole milk 3.25% fat
- 400 g heavy cream 36% fat
- 42 g egg yolks from 3 medium eggs
- 2 whole lemons juiced and zested (about ¼ cup juice and 2 tbsp zest)
- 4 g vanilla extract optional
- 1 g kosher salt
- 18 g poppy seeds
Equipment
- Microplane Zester
- Citrus Juicer
- 2-Quart Saucepan
- Whisk
- Ice Bath
- Instant-Read Thermometer
- Fine-Mesh Sieve
- Compressor-Style Ice Cream Maker
Video
Method
- Portion out all of your ingredients so you're ready to go. Crack 42 g egg yolks into a small bowl and whisk well, and zest 2 whole lemons. Set aside.
- Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with cold water and several handfuls of ice cubes. Set aside.
- Set a fine-mesh sieve over a smaller bowl you set aside for the ice bath.
- Grab a saucepan that holds at least 2 quarts of liquid. Pour in 150 g cane sugar, 60 g skim milk powder, and 0.3 g guar gum (if using). Whisk to combine.
- Pour 400 g whole milk into the pan with the sugar/SMP mixture, and whisk until the sugar/SMP have mostly dissolved.
- Add 400 g heavy cream and whisk again until the mixture feels smooth.
- Gently heat the pot over medium-low, whisking constantly, until it reaches 110°F on an instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches temperature, immediately remove it from the heat.
- Take a ladleful of the warm cream mixture, and stream it slowly into the egg yolks, whisking vigorously to prevent curdling.
- Once the mixture is smooth, pour the egg/cream mixture back into the saucepan, and whisk well until the liquid takes on a yellowish hue.
- Return the pan to medium-low heat, and continue warming, whisking constantly, until it reaches 165°F. Once at temperature, immediately remove it from the heat.
- Stir in the lemon zest, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain the hot custard into the bowl set over the ice bath, then stir in 1 g kosher salt and 4 g vanilla extract (if using). Whisk often for about 15 minutes, or until the custard reaches about 75°F.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours, or overnight, to chill.
- Once the custard has chilled, pre-chill your ice cream maker according to the instructions. Juice the zested 2 whole lemons, then add the juice to the chilled custard.
- Add 18 g poppy seeds, and stir well.
- Pour in the custard with the machine running. Allow the custard to churn according to the machine’s instructions. This will take anywhere from 20-45 minutes, depending on the machine.
- Scoop the ice cream into pints with wax paper pressed onto the surface to prevent ice crystals, and set in the freezer for at least 4 hours, or overnight, to fully set and age.
Notes
- If you’re not into lemon, this recipe also works great with oranges, grapefruits, limes, or really any citrus your heart desires.
- You can skip the guar gum if you prefer. However, I recommend adding an extra egg yolk for better stabilization.
- If you don’t have a thermometer (get one!), the milk will start to steam when it’s close to 110°F, and the custard will coat the back of a spoon when it’s close to 165°F.
- I always strain my custard after cooking to remove any potential cooked egg bits. This also removes the zest, so you don’t end up with pieces in your ice cream. They’ll ruin the texture.
- While you can churn this the same day, I highly recommend letting it rest overnight in the refrigerator. It’ll be as cold as possible, so it’ll churn faster, and the flavors will develop as it sits.
- Don’t let this one go longer than overnight, or it will age too much and develop a tangy flavor that overpowers the lemon.
- Because this base is a dense custard, make sure your compressor has been pre-cooled for 10 minutes to ensure a fast draw time.
- The same goes for chilling after churning. You can enjoy a softer consistency the same day, but I find the texture is best after an overnight chill.
