28 March 2009

Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream



Mmmm. Cherries. Chocolate. Thank goodness, my sister Anne keeps me in the good chocolate and the Trader Joe's dried cherries :) One of her packages included a dark chocolate cherry bar, and I put it to good use in this ice cream!

I went with a basic vanilla base, then added the juice from some frozen (thawed) cherries. Threw in the chopped chocolate bar and cherries at the and, and voila - cherry chocolate heaven.

PS: Nobody wants to hear about my hurried days, yes? That's okay, I don't really want to complain about them. But! Today we are supposed to be snowed in, so a weekend trip has been cancelled last minute. My house is clean and we have no plans, so I'm making freezer meals and preparing posts for the blog. So look out! No more long spans with no posts, I promise!





Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream
(Adapted from Alice Q. Foodie)




Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. whole milk
1 c. sugar
6 egg yolks
2/3 c. cherry juice or syrup from a can or jar (I used the juice from my bag of frozen cherries)
2/3 c. half and half
1 1/2 c. (thawed) frozen cherries, roughly chopped
1 c. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Heat the milk and pinch of salt in a 2 qt. saucepan over medium-high heat until scalded (bubbles will begin to form at the edge and it will smell "cooked"). In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and smooth.

Whisk a little of the hot milk into the sugar and yolk mixture, and then very slowly add the rest, whisking continuously. Pour the egg, milk and sugar mixture back into the pan, and cook over medium- high heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 6-8 minutes).

Pour the custard mixture into a shallow metal bowl. Set in an ice water bath and stir to cool - or simply allow to cool at room temperature for a few minutes and place in the refrigerator (use a towel if you have glass shelves). When the custard is thoroughly chilled, stir in the half and half and the cherry juice, reserving the cherries. Refrigerate overnight.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add the cherries and chocolate pieces when the ice cream is frozen to a soft consistency. Transfer to a container and ripen in the freezer for 3-4 hours before serving.

7 comments:

Snooky doodle said...

wow cherry an chocolate is one of my favourite combo :)that ice cream looks mouth watering. I m looking forward to your new posts :)

Loie said...

Ooh. You'd love the Cadbury 'Cherry Ripe' bar we have in Australia. It's one of my favourite chocolates. Great recipe :)

Elyse said...

Wow, Dawn! This ice cream looks fantastic. Chocolate and cherries are such a fabulous combination (that chocolate cherry bar sounds divine, by the way). I love that you're snowed in and making ice cream...that sounds exactly like something I would do! It also sounds like you're making great use of your time stuck indoors. I need a good excuse to do nothing but prepare posts, but I don't think it's going to snow in San Fran anytime soon :)

Anonymous said...

Looks great - as Loie said you would love a Cherry Ripe. My husband is a big fan of cherry and chocolate so I am going to have to bookmark this one.

Thanks!

Sarah said...

Mmmm. I'm so excited that the weather's warming up again because even though I can (and do!) eat ice cream in the winter it is so much more refreshing in the warmer months! Love this recipe.

sophia smith said...

Ice cream with chocolate flavor is my favorite..Thanks for sharing..I am going to follow you..

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perto said...

Very good cherry Ice cream, because the [flavor is incomparable, one day when I was looking a medicine in pharmacyescrow I also found a a store where I tasted the most perfect cherry ice cream.