Blackberry Ice Cream

Beautifully Luscious



The rich color of this blackberry ice cream recipe is matched by its rich, creamy and slightly tart flavor. Here in Tennessee we won't see fresh local blackberries until at least the middle of July, but there are a couple of local supermarkets that carry blackberries "imported" from elsewhere, and even frozen blackberries will work. If you wished, you could substitute raspberries for the blackberries — although I don't like them as well.

Recipe at Cooking for Two...

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Espresso Ice Cream with Nutella Swirl

Nutella Novice



I always thought Nutella was just a fancy European chocolate sauce and as someone who's not passionate about chocolate I wasn't particularly interested. In fact, although it's frequently found on breakfast tables throughout Europe I was never even tempted to try it during my travels. Breakfast is bread, cheese, maybe some ham, coffee, and a cigarette. Breakfast is decidedly not chocolate

So I was surprised to learn a couple of months ago that Nutella is actually hazelnut butter flavored with chocolate. That put a whole new complexion on things and I added it to my current grocery list - I wanted to try it and see what the fuss was about. It took a month (and several grocery lists) before I was in a store that sold Nutella and I bought a jar. When I got home it went into my pantry and I forgot about it for another month before noticing it and trying a bite. It was pretty good - nothing to write home about, but then I was already at home - and I forgot about it again. Until I made a batch of lavender ice cream.

Breakfast is bread, cheese, maybe some ham, coffee, and a cigarette. Breakfast is decidedly not chocolate.

The ice cream was good, but needed something. But what? I remembered the Nutella and decided to add a spoonful. Delicious, and then I realized the perfect use for the Nutella was swirled into espresso ice cream. So I picked an ice-cream custard recipe (from David Lebovitz's Fine Cooking article, "Scooped," June/July 2009), added some espresso powder, and swirled in the Nutella. Woo hoo! This is some good stuff, and if you really want to kick it over the top, drizzle it with some Fra Angelica, for another hazelnut kick with a brandy back.

Espresso Ice Cream with Nutella Swirl
Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

2 c heavy cream — divided
1 c whole milk
2/3 c sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp Espresso powder
5 egg yolks — lightly beaten
2/3 c Nutella

Heat 1 cup heavy cream and milk with sugar, salt, and Espresso powder over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, small bubbles begin to form and temperature is about 175 degrees.

Slowly add half of hot cream mixture to beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly and vigorously to avoid curdling. Then whisk egg mixture back into the cream. Place pan back over medium heat and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. You should be able to draw your finger through the custard and leave a trail.

Pour custard through a sieve into a 2 quart bowl. Whisk the 2nd cup of heavy cream.

Place this bowl in a larger bowl, add ice and cold water and chill until ice melts. Cover medium bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Add to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. Scoop ice cream into a plastic container, drizzle in Nutella, and swirl with a knife (this will be easiest if the bowl is on a moist kitchen towel). Freeze for at least a couple of hours to harden.

Try Espresso Ice Cream with...
Mititei (Romanian Sausages)
Lamb Steaks with Gremolata
Cuban Braised Pork

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | dessert | ice cream

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Lavender Ice Cream

Edible Flowers



This recipe proved to be quite a challenge. I found a recipe (from a usually dependable source) that used honey as the sweetener, but two separate attempts failed - the ice cream simply wouldn't set so I ended up with two batches of lavender and honey flavored soup. Upon subsequent investigation I discovered that honey is only suitable as an addition, not as the primary source of sugar. So I reworked the recipe to use sugar and added a bit of honey for flavor. It worked and is really quite good - and try adding a dollop of Nutella to it when you serve.

Recipe here...

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Blackberry Ice Cream

Chillin' Out



I grew up on a farm named Direenfinhilid, a Gaelic word roughly meaning "pretty little oak grove." And in fact, the house my parents built was surrounded by oaks ranging from 50 to 150 years old. Behind the house was a field belonging to someone else that hadn't been maintained, as a result it had become a solid acre of wild blackberry bushes — blackberries that ripened mid-summer.

Every year my father would organize three or four berry-picking expeditions, out-fitting us with empty paint cans to collect the berries in. Each expedition would last until we were sated on berries and stained blue, our hands and arms were covered with scratches (despite long pants and long-sleeved shirts), and our complaints about the heat finally exceeded Dad's desire for more berries. Then we'd make our way back to the house where we'd sort the berries from the twigs and leaves that also ended up in the buckets.

Back in those halcyon days ice cream was easy for adults to make when they had kids to do the cranking.

Dad or Mom would make a blackberry cobbler that night and they'd freeze the rest of the berries. Often the end of the berry season would coincide with the first of the peach season and we'd have a blackberry/peach cobbler — a pairing made in heaven. But one thing I don’t recall eating as a child is blackberry ice cream.

We certainly made ice cream throughout the summer. Back in those halcyon days ice cream was easy for adults to make when they had kids to do the cranking — childless couples didn't eat homemade ice cream back then, too much work. I recall peach ice cream (a favorite of mine), strawberry ice cream, chocolate and vanilla for sure, and lemon (not a favorite of mine), but I don't recall blackberry ice cream. So, although my first thought was "cobbler" when I saw blackberries at the farmers' market, my second was ice cream.

I'm not actually an ice cream fan, but thanks to Dave Lebovitz pointing to a sale at Amazon a few weeks back I now own a Cusinart ice cream maker and I'm exploring it. So blackberry ice cream seemed like a great idea. Turns out, it was.

Blackberry Ice Cream
Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

1 pint (12 oz.) blackberries
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup milk
2 cups half-and-half
4 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat milk, half-and-half, and 1/3 cup sugar in a 1 qt. sauce pan over medium heat until almost simmering (175F) stirring frequently. (A few bubbles begin to appear.)

In the meantime: Puree the berries and strain through a fine-mesh sieve, stirring and pressing with a spoon to eliminate seeds, then whisk egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and cardamom in a medium bowl.

When milk is hot, slowly pour half into egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Then whisk milk and egg mixture into remaining milk. Heat over medium-low heat until almost simmering (175F). At this point a few bubbles begin to appear and the mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon.

Pour custard (milk and egg mixture) through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool to room temperature. Add berry puree and chill for four hours.

Churn according the ice cream-maker directions, then scoop into a plastic container and freeze for another 2 - 4 hours before serving.

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