I use this recipe from Cuisinart, which I like a lot, but I substitute Cointreau or Grand Marnier for the vanilla and use 1 tablespoon instead of 1-1/2 teaspoons. Vanilla does not help the flavor, but Cointreau does. Notice that this recipe does NOT contain salt, but does contain lemon juice.

When I make vanilla ice cream, I make a creme Anglais, and it always contains eggs, but I've never tried adding strawberries to it, although I have added pineapple. Generally, when I make vanilla ice cream, I add flavorings only when serving, as I find that they are better when not frozen.

I have never tasted ice cream that I thought had too much fat in it, but I do find salt in ice cream offensive.

Lars

I use 1 cup cream to 2 cups milk for the exact reason you stated. I felt that there was too much cream and switching the proportions made it perfect, at least for me!

Tracey

I grew up on ice milk from A&P (because my dad was so cheap and still is, lol). Never had many snacks...peanut butter, popcorn, fudge-sicles. Heavy cream ice-creams taste too thick to me.
I have a simple roasted banana, coconut milk, non-fat greek yogurt recipe and one that adds dark chocolate and a bottle of guiness. More my style but seems most people like the full cream flavor.
I think their recipe book wants to please with tried and true since it can be difficult getting good texture with the home machines...just a guess. Once you search and try different recipes that have ingredients you like and a bit lighter, you'll be satisfied i'm sure. Also, give it a rest in the freezer a day or two. It does sometimes change if it lasts that long. I have the cheap one where you freeze the insert. I planned ahead and got it very cold in the freezer a few days and chilled the mixed ingredients for most of the day with an hour in the freezer as well.
Visited my friends organic dairy farm last weekend. Wow was that milk rich and sweet right from Elsie. Couldn't finish my glass but it was very good like a rich ice cream.
(the stinky munster wheel of cheese i brought home is more my taste, : ))
But i'm thinking ice cream in this heat might be nice.Coconut milk is pretty rich. Might try coconut water with the yogurt...

If you change the proportions of cream to milk, it will also change how hard the ice cream will be - the more milk and less cream, the harder it will be. You can make the ice cream softer by adding alcohol to it, such as in a liqueur used for flavoring. For a rich flavor, you can add egg liqueur - for a less rich flavor, you can add coconut liqueur, but then it will also have a coconut flavor (which I like). Personally, my favorite liqueurs for use in ice cream are Frangelico, Amaretto, and Kahlua. If you can find mocha Kahlua, it is especially good, but not for strawberries.

Lars

Lars, the reason I added the strawberries at the end is my husband keeps insisting he wants vanilla ice cream with strawberries in it, not strawberry ice cream with strawberries in it. Actually, after making this, he said he'd be just as happy with vanilla ice cream with the strawberries put over the top after dishing it. That's what he'll get the next time.

Sleevendog, this Cuisinart has the insert that you freeze before using, too. I had another brand before that never did freeze the ingredients, but this one does a very good job. I think I'm just going to have to start trying all kinds of recipes to get ones that really appeal to us.

Tracey, I'm going to try your suggestion regarding the amounts of milk and cream. I've also made a copy of the SCM versions and plan to try them as well. I also have Claire_de_luna's recipes for Coconut Ice Cream and Coconut Gelato. Just happen to have the Coco Lopez sitting in my cabinet. DH loves coconut anything so he'll probably like either of them.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and suggestions.

It really helps to have a remote read (non-contact) infrared thermometer ($30.00).

You can check how even your oven is in heating, how cold in various spots in your refrigerator. And you can also check which spot is the coldest in your freezer, that's where you should put the ice cream bowl. It will make a big difference.

dcarch

I made one this morning. Really good!
Last night i made the sauce and ran it this morning in the 'spinner'.
(recommended to chill mixture in coldest part of fridge overnight)

2 ripe bananas
tbsp brown sugar
i can coconut milk, aprox 11oz, (no added sugar)
1 cup nonfat greek yogurt
1/3 cup cocoa powder

slice bananas lenghtwise and place on parchment on cookie sheet
sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 10 min 350, 5 min broiler. Rest.

cuisinart or blender add banana and cocoa and pulse smooth. Add coconut milk
and yogurt, blend and fridge a few hours or overnight.

-not too sweet, very creamy, a bit like italian gelato. For more chocolate flavor i should have used a bit of the dark chocolate bar i have. More sugar could be added to the warm banana...the next one i'm going to try the coconut milk, yogurt, fresh lemon/lime and fresh rosemary, no chocolate.
-years ago a vendor at the UnionSquare Market was making a lemon/rosemary sorbet that was wonderful. The health food store has a coconut milk line of ice creams 2 for 10$. (on sale)
I just made 2 pints for under 3$. And not much effort.