Cooking
Since my sister was making the cake for our birthday celebration last Saturday, I decided I would make some ice cream. I got my ice cream maker a couple of months ago and I love it. Up until now, I had been focusing on making low-fat ice cream. Since this was a special occasion and, most importantly, I would not be eating the entire batch myself, I thought I would give real cream a try.
I had that five pound box of cherries sitting in my refrigerator, so there was little question what the star ingredient would be. I based my recipe on Alton Brown’s Serious Vanilla Ice Cream and took inspiration from Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Ice Cream.
I tinkered with the amounts of dairy products and sugar in Alton Brown’s recipe in order to increase the quantity to somewhere around 1 ½ quarts, which is the capacity of my ice cream maker. When I was doing the math, though, I failed to take into account the chocolate and cherries that I would be adding later. I had to stir the cherries in after the ice cream was removed from the ice cream maker because there just wasn't room for them in the ice cream maker. This wasn’t a huge problem, but I do think the cherries melted the ice cream a little. Maybe I should have frozen the cherries before adding them!
The ice cream was really delicious and was a big hit at the party. The flavor from the vanilla bean was incredible. My only complaint would be that the texture of the cherries wasn’t what I had hoped for. If you’ve ever had Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, you know that the cherries in it are soft and chewy. The cherries in my ice cream after two hours in the freezer were a little icy and by no means chewy. The next day they were quite icy. Next time (and there will be a next time!) I think I’ll try cooking the cherries in a simple syrup first.
Cherry and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes over 1 ½ quarts
2 ½ cups half & half
1 cup whipping cream
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup cherry puree (puree fresh cherries in blender)
1 vanilla bean
2 cups quartered cherries
3 ½ - 4 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
Combine half & half, cream, sugar, and cherry puree in a large saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the pulp. Add both the vanilla pulp and the bean to the mixture in the saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 170 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer – don’t let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean, transfer the mixture to a covered container, and chill it in the refrigerator overnight.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add the chocolate and cherries near the end – if necessary stir them in after the ice cream is removed from the machine. Put the ice cream in a covered container and let it harden in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.
Enjoy!
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- Growing To Like Rhubarb
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Cooking
Cherry and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Since my sister was making the cake for our birthday celebration last Saturday, I decided I would make some ice cream. I got my ice cream maker a couple of months ago and I love it. Up until now, I had been focusing on making low-fat ice cream. Since this was a special occasion and, most importantly, I would not be eating the entire batch myself, I thought I would give real cream a try.
I had that five pound box of cherries sitting in my refrigerator, so there was little question what the star ingredient would be. I based my recipe on Alton Brown’s Serious Vanilla Ice Cream and took inspiration from Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Ice Cream.
I tinkered with the amounts of dairy products and sugar in Alton Brown’s recipe in order to increase the quantity to somewhere around 1 ½ quarts, which is the capacity of my ice cream maker. When I was doing the math, though, I failed to take into account the chocolate and cherries that I would be adding later. I had to stir the cherries in after the ice cream was removed from the ice cream maker because there just wasn't room for them in the ice cream maker. This wasn’t a huge problem, but I do think the cherries melted the ice cream a little. Maybe I should have frozen the cherries before adding them!
The ice cream was really delicious and was a big hit at the party. The flavor from the vanilla bean was incredible. My only complaint would be that the texture of the cherries wasn’t what I had hoped for. If you’ve ever had Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, you know that the cherries in it are soft and chewy. The cherries in my ice cream after two hours in the freezer were a little icy and by no means chewy. The next day they were quite icy. Next time (and there will be a next time!) I think I’ll try cooking the cherries in a simple syrup first.
Cherry and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes over 1 ½ quarts
2 ½ cups half & half
1 cup whipping cream
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup cherry puree (puree fresh cherries in blender)
1 vanilla bean
2 cups quartered cherries
3 ½ - 4 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
Combine half & half, cream, sugar, and cherry puree in a large saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the pulp. Add both the vanilla pulp and the bean to the mixture in the saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 170 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer – don’t let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean, transfer the mixture to a covered container, and chill it in the refrigerator overnight.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add the chocolate and cherries near the end – if necessary stir them in after the ice cream is removed from the machine. Put the ice cream in a covered container and let it harden in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.
Enjoy!
- Cherry Vanilla Balsamic Shrub Recipe
Once again, I’m a Canbassador. That means I receive a couple shipments of stone fruit, more than enough to preserve, and I share my results and recipes with you. I already received a large box of dark red cherries and will be working on peaches next....
- Can-it-forward & Canning Jars Giveaway!
Cherry Vanilla Balsamic Shrub, Bourbon Cherries & Pickled CherriesOnce again I’m participating in two events that dovetail rather nicely. This Saturday is Can-It-Forward day hosted by Jarden Home Brands and they have generously sent me some canning...
- This Week At The Market
I went to the farmers market again today. Peaches, tomatoes and cucumbers were still plentiful and a few heirloom tomato varieties showed up this week. I bought two beautiful tomatoes: one Purple Cherokee and one Brandywine. ...
- Growing To Like Rhubarb
Rhubarb conserve When I was little, we had a rhubarb plant in our yard and my Mom would frequently prepare some sort of rhubarb sauce or compote. It was the only dessert I didn’t like and it seemed unfair to me at the time that rhubarb...
- A Bowlful Of Summer
As of yesterday, I still had two ears of corn in the refrigerator from last Sunday’s farmers market. I know, I know... corn should be cooked immediately, lest the sugar start turning to starch. Seems that corn is so sweet these...