Roasting the sweet cherries with a bit of sugar allows for some caramelization and concentrating of fruit flavor. I also substitute light corn syrup to soften the final texture.
Want to eat the “bowl” too? Try my Waffle Cone Recipe.
Makes about 1 liter/2 pints
INGREDIENTS
Roasted Cherries
- sweet cherries, pitted: about 500 g/1 lb (if using whole cherries with pits, start with about 600 g/1.25 lbs, then remove the pits)
- sugar: 50 g/.25 cup
- fresh lemon juice: 1 Tbsp
Custard Base
- cream: 500 mL/2 cups
- full fat milk: 175 mL/.75 cup (note this uses less milk than normal ice cream recipes to compensate for the extra liquid of the cherries)
- egg yolks: 8
- sugar: 100 g/0.5 cup
- salt: .25 tsp
- pure almond extract: .5 tsp
- dark couverture chocolate (>= 60%): about 150 g/5.25 oz, roughly chopped pieces (recommended: Felchlin, Callebaut, Lindt, Valrhona)
Equipment
- Ice cream maker: I use a maker with built-in refrigeration unit, but you can also use the models which freeze the canister.
- Thermometer: I also use an instant thermometer (Thermapen) to monitor the cooking of the custard base. You can use a candy thermometer in the sauce pan or just watch the mixture very, very carefully and remove from heat when the mixture thickens in order to prevent the eggs from curdling.
STEPS
- Roast the cherries. Heat an oven to 200 C/400 F. Toss the cherries with the sugar and spread on a baking tray/dish. Roast for 30-35 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Puree the cherries with their roasting juices along with the lemon juice with a blender or stick/immersion blender until completely liquified, about 3-4 minutes. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, reserve the juice, and discard the pulp.
- Make the custard base. Add the cream and milk to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer on the stove top using medium heat. Separately, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until completely blended. Add about 125 mL/0.5 cup of the cream mixture to the egg mixture and whisk continuously until blended. Add the rest of the cream/milk mixture and continue whisking until the mixture is fully blended.
- Thicken the custard base. Add the egg/cream mixture back into sauce pan. Heat the mixture over medium-low to medium heat and allow the mixture to thicken, stirring every 15 seconds with a spatula. Bring the mixture to 82 C/180 F or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. This will take about 7-10 minutes. Tip: I use a stove setting of 4 out of 10 to heat the mixture slowly, then move to 5 in the last minutes if the temperature isn’t increasing any further. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove any bits which have curdled.
- Finish the mixture and prepare for churning. Add the cherry mixture and almond extract to the custard. If using a self-refrigerated maker, you can just cool the mixture in the fridge to room temperature and begin. If using a freezer canister maker, you will need to cool the mixture completely down to fridge temperature, at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours (this helps prevent larger ice crystals forming during the churning)
- Churn and add the chocolate chunks. Process according to your ice cream maker’s directions. This means finishing when the mixture reaches soft-serve consistency (about 50+ minutes for my machine). Add the chocolate chunks during the last couple minutes to distribute through the mixture. Transfer to a freezer container and allow to solidify, about 4 hours (it can be eaten slightly soft after about 2 hours). The ice cream will keep fresh for about 5 days.