Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is definitely my ice cream hero. Or I guess she's my ice cream heroine. Which does seem more appropriate because ice cream is my heroin. When I saw this recipe in her book, I was curious to see how roasting strawberries might transform them. But it didn't really do that - it just concentrated the flavor (which is a good thing, don't get me wrong). So in the end, it was a very good strawberry ice cream, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell it apart from a non-roasted strawberry ice cream. Although the buttermilk does give it a nice little tang. I don't think I'll crave it, like I do the pistachio-honey, but believe me, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a bowl.

 

ROASTED STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM

Makes about 1 quart

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/2-inch thick

1/3 cup + 2/3 cup sugar, divided

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 cup buttermilk

1.      Preheat oven to 375º F. Combine strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar in an 8" square glass or ceramic baking dish, stirring gently to mix well. Roast for 8 minutes, or until just soft. Let cool slightly. Puree in a food processor with lemon juice. Measure 1/2 cup of the pureed berries and set aside. Refrigerate the remaining puree.

2.      Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

3.      Combine the remaining milk, cream, 3/4 cup sugar and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heat-proof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

4.      Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture in to the cream cheese until smooth. Add the buttermilk and reserved strawberry puree and blend well. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

5.      Pour the ice cream mixture into the frozen canister of electric ice cream freezer and run according to directions of ice cream maker. Pack the finished ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

6.      Serve with refrigerated strawberry puree poured over the top.

by Jeni Britton Bauer

strawberries

sliced strawberries mixed with sugar

roasted strawberries

strawberry puree

The recipe doesn't say to strain out the seeds,
but I did (it just seemed like a good idea).

mixing the cornstarch/milk slurry

adding the slurry to the hot milk/cream/sugar mixture

I used brown rice syrup as a substitute for corn syrup.

softened cream cheese and salt

mixing cream cheese with hot milk mixture

adding buttermilk

mixing in strawberry puree

strawberry custard

I cooled it off in the bowl in an ice bath
(I didn't use a ziploc like the recipe says).

strawberry custard in ice cream maker

ice cream

Instead of pouring the extra strawberry puree
over the ice cream, I decided to mix some into
the ice cream (for a little extra color and flavor).

roasted strawberry buttermilk ice cream

.