To Strawberry Balsamic Ice-Cream

Yesterday I wanted to make ice-cream and when I went to make sure we had the ingredients I realized that my ice cream bowl had been pulled from the freezer and was chilling on the counter. This was no bueno because it meant that I would have to wait a good 12 hours for my bowl to freeze back up. Gosh darn it.

So today I was set on making ice-cream. With all the strawberries chilling in the fridge (still had plenty left after the Strawberry Avocado Salsa) I thought why not strawberry, that’s a good summer flavor. When asked by my dad what flavor I was gonna experiment with and when I responded with strawberry – he said yeah that was gonna be my suggestion. So good ole foodgawker came to the rescue with helping me hunt down a strawberry ice cream recipe. Now traditional strawberry is always a crowd pleaser, but I saw two recipes for balsamic strawberry and thought hmmm what’s the deal with that. Upon clicking on the recipe I realized that not only is it an Italian tradition (gotta love the Italians, having spent a semester abroad there), but this specific flavor is one of the most popular for the Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco – where I was just visiting!!!! Now I didn’t go to the creamery – heck I didn’t even know it existed, but why not honor the city of my recent adventures while checking out a robust ice-cream flavor in the process. If anything at all I will catch the eyes of a few blog readers.

Now I refrigerated my puree and base overnight so really I had to wait TWO days to try this flavor but the wait was worth it! Making sure the base and puree were thoroughly chilled made the making of the ice cream superb!

Truly a great flavor and I now understand why long lines form over it (long lines I have yet to witness and wait in though). Next time in San Fran I will have to hunt this place down, just to see how my homemade compared to the real thing (:

Ingredients: (recipe adapted from playin with my food)

Strawberry Puree/Ice Cream Base:

3 cups strawberries, quartered
2-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tsp. balsamic vinegar
Ice-Cream Base:
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 Tsp. kosher salt
2 Tsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Make the puree by combining the berries with the 2-1/2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tsp.. balsamic vinegar in a nonreactive skillet.

Cook, stirring frequently until the berries are soft and the liquid is somewhat reduced, 6 to 8 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender or food processor.

Puree until smooth and refrigerate.

Make the base by whisking the yolks with 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof bowl.

Set aside.

In a nonreactive saucepan, stir together the half and half, milk, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar and cook over medium high heat until it reaches a bare simmer.

Reduce heat to medium and remove 1/2 cup of the hot cream liquid.

Add to the egg yolks slowly, while whisking constantly.

Repeat with another 1/2 cup and then add to the cream mixture in the saucepan, stirring with a heatproof spatula.

Cook carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a clear path when you run your fingers across the spatula.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container.

Cool in an ice water bath, and stir occasionally until cool. (I skipped this step since I knew I was going to be chilling over night)

Remove from the bath, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours.

Whisk the puree and the remaining 2 t. vinegar into the chilled base.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions (about 25 min with the Kitchen Aid Ice-Cream Maker)

Chill in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

Shelf Life: 1 week (If it will last that long)

Cheers to the first homemade ice cream of the season (and maybe the only batch for this gal – ahhhhhhhhh the horror)

n