Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Directions

1. Place the strawberries in a small bowl and mix in 1/4 cup of the sugar, then refrigerate. Place the rhubarb and another 1/4 cup of the sugar in a small-medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring gently every once in a while, until the rhubarb is soft and in a pink syrup. Combine with the strawberries and mix well, then return to the refrigerator.
2. Combine the cream, milk, remaining sugar and angelica in a large saucepan and bring to a low boil to dissolve the sugar, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover for 10-25 minutes to let the angelica steep.
3. In the meantime, whisk together the yolks and salt in a large bowl. Once the cream mixture is done steeping, strain out the angelica. Pour 1/4 cup cream mixture into the yolks, whisking vigorously. Keep whisking and pour the rest of the cream in one continuous stream.
4. Pour back into the saucepan and cook, whisking, until somewhat thickened (should coat the back of a spoon, across which you should be able to draw a line in with your finger). Pour back into the large bowl and stir in the vodka (if desired - to keep the ice cream from freezing too hard) and strawberry-rhubarb mixture, then (if desired - the ice cream isn't very pink on its own) gently and gradually whisk in the food coloring a drop at a time – you don’t want it to be neon pink!
5. Cool the mixture over an ice bath. Once fully cooled, churn in an ice cream machine and freeze until firm and scoopable.