Here’s another ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop, and it’s a great one for now, Quebec’s glorious strawberry season. It’s not a very sweet ice cream, but really shows off the flavour of the strawberries, so make sure you use only the best berries for this ice cream. The sour cream gives it a nice tang, and the heavy cream that smooth, ice creaminess you would want. It’s a simple ice cream, meant as a showcase for the berries.

I had made a strawberry-rhubarb compote a bit later in the week and topped this ice cream with it. It got about 10x better, so definitely try something like that!

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl with sugar and vodka or kirsch.

2. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve and all of the strawberries are coated. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

After a long, rainy and cool spring here, it’s finally hot summer temperatures – almost 32 degrees C with the humidity (or 90 degrees F) today! The last few days have been pretty steamy, so of course, I had to whip out my newest addition to my cookbook collection, David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. I vowed to make more use of my ice cream maker this summer, and I’ve been doing good to my promise so far, having already prepared two ice creams from this book.

This maple-walnut one is the first I made. Something about salty-maple-sweet walnuts appealed to me. We had just bought a bunch of maple syrup at a great price, so that helped me make the decision. This was a very, very smart decision!

The recipe calls for a darker-coloured syrup, but I used a lighter one. This probably had an impact on the overall maple taste of the ice cream, as it wasn’t very strong. However, I was perfectly okay with that! It had a light maple flavour, and a rich creaminess. The candied walnuts were a great element, adding both crunch and hit of maple sweetness. Next time, I would use more maple syrup and more salt in walnut preparation though.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream with Wet Walnuts
from David Lebovitz’s A Perfect Scoop

1 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup dark amber maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Warm the milk and sugar in a pot. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. Set aside.

2. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, slowly pour the warm milk/sugar into the yolks, whisking constantly to temper the yolks. Scrap the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan. Continue cooking over medium heat and stir constantly with a heatproof spatula. When the consistency becomes like a custard, pour through a strainer and stir it into the cream to cool. Add the maple syrup, salt, vanilla, and stir until cool. Place in the fridge for 4-8 hours (or even overnight).

3. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the directions. While the ice cream is churning, prepare the wet walnuts.

WET WALNUTS

1/2 cup dark amber maple syrup
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted
Big pinch of Fleur de Sel

1. Heat the maple syrup in a skillet until it starts bubbling. Add in the walnuts and coat them generous. Stir for about 10 seconds and remove from the heat. Sprinkle some Fleur de Sel and let cool completely.

2. Stir in the wet walnuts a minute before the ice cream finishes churning. Save some to top off when serving.

It seems we’re having a short but intense heatwave this week. For the next two days, the temperature should reach about 40 degrees C, with the humidity! I can’t think of a better recipe to post during all this sticky, unpleasant heat than this wonderful, perfect roasted banana and rum raisin ice cream.

It’s basically David Lebovitz’s roasted banana ice cream, but for the boozers among us, I threw in a healthy dose of rum, as well as some heavily rum-soaked raisins. Because you roasted the bananas with brown sugar and butter, the banana flavour comes out very strongly in the ice cream. The touch of lemon is apparent, but adds a nice tartness to what might be otherwise too sweet of an ice cream. I loved the plump, rummy raisins that were scattered throughout, as well the rum in the ice cream as well. I wouldn’t want to imagine this ice cream without all that rum, as bananas and rum pair so brilliantly. Next time, I think I would even add a bit of cinnamon for an extra boost of flavour.

Another great thing about this ice cream, besides the taste, is that you don’t have to make a custard or use any eggs. It makes this ice cream so easy and quick to prepare, which is ideal when you’re in the middle of a heatwave!

Roasted Banana and Rum Raisin Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz

3 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter, salted or unsalted, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 Cups whole milk
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
¼ cup raisins
4 tablespoons rum, divided

1. Put 2 tablespoons rum into a microwave-safe dish. Add the raisins and microwave for 1 minute. Put aside and let raisins soak up any additional rum.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the bananas into 1/2 inch pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2 qt baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring just once during baking.

3. Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup in the baking dish into a blender or food processor. Add the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt, and puree until smooth.

4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. If the chilled mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisking will thin it out.

As delicious as peaches are, I can never get through a whole basket of them before they cross the just-ripe threshold into the waaay-too-overripe badlands. Of course, when it’s peach season here, it makes sense to buy them by the bucket, but I needed something fun to do with all the ones I couldn’t eat in time.

It’s been forever since we’ve used our ice cream maker at home, so I decided to give the roasted peach ice cream recipe on Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy a spin. It sounded like the perfect summer ice cream, and I loved the fact that I wouldn’t have to use any egg yolks or worrying about any of that tempering business.

The end result wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. The ice cream is nice, but if I’m going to eat ice cream, I want it to be worth every single calorie. This one is rather plain and nondescript. I didn’t add the preach preserves when I made it, and perhaps that was part of the reason the ice cream wasn’t bursting with fresh, peach flavor. I did, however, add peach schnapps to the mixture, and pretty much doubled the amount of roasted peaches that gets mixed in. I thought adding cinnamon to the brown sugar coating I roasted the peaches in would add a nice dimension to the ice cream, but I could barely taste it. Next time, I would easily double the amount of cinnamon and make sure to add the peach preserves.

I did have a little problem when it came time to mix the cream mixture in the ice cream maker…the recipe calls for whipping cream, and after just a few minutes in the machine, the mixture really started expanding, to the point where it was all overflowing out of the machine, so I had to stop the process much earlier than I should have. I don’t think this had a serious effect on the outcome of the ice cream, but it was still a bit strange…

All in all, it has an okay texture, and does have a refreshing peachy flavour, but it isn’t nearly as tasty or as summery as I was hoping it would be.

Roasted Peach & Cinnamon Ice Cream
adapted from Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy
Printable Recipe

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peach preserves (I didn’t use this)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (I used 1 teaspoon vanilla extract instead)
Pinch kosher salt
4-6 medium cinnamon-roasted peaches* (Because I didn’t use peach preserves, I increased this to about 10 medium roasted peaches)

1. Combine all ingredients, except the peaches, in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a candy thermometer to inside of pan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and strain into a lidded container. If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble on the surface, remove it from the heat.

2. Cool the mixture, then refrigerate it overnight.

3. Freeze mixture in an ice cream machine according to unit’s instructions. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 and reached a soft serve consistency, add the peaches and continue turning to incorporate. Spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 1 quart

*Cinnamon Roasted Peaches

8-10 ripe peaches
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Combine brown sugar with cinnamon.

2. Cut peaches in halves and pit them. Coat the cut side of the peaches in the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture and place, cut side down, on a baking sheet.

3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes (or longer – bake until you see the skins of the peaches peeling off)

4. Remove peaches from pan and let cool. Be sure to save any peachy, sugary liquid from the pan!

5. Remove skins from peaches and dice. Include all juices when adding to the ice cream!

If you like this, you might also like:

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Orange Sorbet

I fully intended to participate in this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie‘s recipe: Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream. However, I didn’t get it done it time, so I’m posting quite late. But it still counts!

Quebec grows some pretty fantastic blueberries, and they’re right in season now. Tiny, and bursting with flavour, these tiny berries are the ultimate in flavour. Of course I would want to make an ice cream out of them.

And what an ice cream it is. It reminds me of a frozen yogurt, but it still retains a wonderful creaminess. The sour cream is fantastic, and takes away from the over-sweetness that so many ice creams carry with them (though being an ice cream addict, I have no problem with any ice cream, ever, overly sweet or not). It didn’t taste like cheesecake to me, but a yogurt, and it was utterly fantastic. Little blueberry bits trapped in a blueberry-flavoured cream? Yes, please!

Even though I didn’t post on time, I will stay true to TWD fashion; find the recipe here. For me, the recipe was perfect; I wouldn’t change the amounts given. It’s definitely worth making, and next time, I’m going to drizzle some melted chocolate in the mix. Chocolate makes everything better, after all.

While searching for a light, fruity sorbet for a dinner we had not so long ago, we came across David Lebovitz’s recipe for Blood Orange Sorbet. It sounded perfect – and indeed, it was very good.

I just used normal oranges, seeing as blood oranges weren’t really in season, and not all that accessible on short notice. Ten oranges (including two really big, juicy ones) gave just over three cups of orange juice, which made enough sorbet to easily feed seven people (and we had a fair amount left over for ourselves the next day).

This was not the best sorbet I’ve had, but it was nice. The recipe says not to bother with straining out the pulp, but the pulpy bits got frozen and did disrupt the texture; next time, we will give the pulp a few spins in the food processor. Also, Soli thought it was too sugary sweet – the oranges already are so sweet, that perhaps less sugar could also be added.

Overall, this was perfect for a summer dessert, and really simple to prepare. I had attempted (again!) to make tuile cookies to go with it, but they failed (as tuiles – we were left with smallish broken tuile bits, which were tasty, but not much for presentation).

(Blood) Orange Sorbet
adapted from David Lebovitz’s recipe

1. Juice your (blood) oranges. Then measure the juice.

2. For each 1 cup (250ml) of juice, figure 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar to be added. (I think you could get away with less!)
For example: Use 1/2 cup (100g) sugar for 2 cups juice (500ml).

3. Put the sugar in a small, non-reactive saucepan. Add just enough juice to saturate it very well. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4. Stir the sugar back into the reserved blood orange juice.

5. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Other notes he makes in the recipe:

- You can use tangerine, orange, grapefruit, or blood orange juice. Just be sure to use fresh juice, which will taste much better than the pre-packaged juice you buy.

- Room temperature citrus fruits will yield much more juice than chilled ones.

- There’s no need to strain out the pulp. I never do. (Though definitely consider food processing it!)

- Because there are no stabilizers added, citrus sorbets are best eaten a few hours after they’re churned. If you plan to serve it another day, remove it from the freezer 5-10 minutes prior to serving. (You might wish to consult Tips For Making Homemade Ice Cream Softer.)

- If you want to use an alternative sweetener, such as honey or agave, use 3/4s of the amount in place of the sugar. For example, in lieu of 1 cup sugar, use 3/4 cup honey instead.

- If you want to add Champagne or sparkling wine, about 2 tablespoons per cup (250ml) is about right. A bit of wine will improve the consistency. (We did add champagne; I think it added something, though it wasn’t a big difference)

- Don’t toss the peels away. The can be candied and just a few rinds will reward you with enough candied peels to last you months and months. I never throw them away.

Almost exactly one year ago, we received an ice cream maker as a house-warming gift. We don’t use it nearly enough, but when we do – it yields great things!

Our best ice cream adventure thus far has been Burnt Sugar Ice Cream, taken from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours. The process was quite exciting; we used demera sugar, so it was difficult to gauge when the sugar had reached the proper “burnt” stage, as we no longer had colour to use as a guide. As the sugar boiled away, it started puffing up, bubbling, then smoking. Some people who have tasted it have said we might’ve gone to far with the burning, but for me, the taste was perfect. Definitely a burnt quality – but in a delicious, tight and flavourful way.

We’ll be making this ice cream again – next time though, I think we’ll try a little less burning, just to see.

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar (we used demera sugar)
3 tbsp. water
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Stir the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

2. Increase the heat and cook until it becomes a caramel of deep amber color.

3. Lower the heat and add the milk and cream. It will bubble like mad but continue stirring until it is smooth, remove from the heat.

4. In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks and salt until a little thick, slowly pour the hot milk mixture over it and whisk to tamper the yolks. Put back into the saucepan and cook until it coats the back of a spoon (creme anglaise consistency or 170 degrees F).

5. Let cool completely and churn into your ice cream maker. Freeze for 2 hours or moreor until firm to scoop….if you can wait that long!