Recipe 26: Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Toasted Cherries

* Recipe 26 (albeit a bit late...)!  I’m halfway done!  Wow!

My girlfriend is not a huge fan of ice cream.  Shocking, I know, but she has this weird thing about sweets.  Too much sugar and her mouth feels oily and sour like she’s just guzzled rotten milk.  It’s why we don’t make pancakes for dinner nearly enough.

That being said, when she tells you that she likes something sweet and actually, voluntarily asks for it, you pay attention.  This is how I know her favorite ice cream is Goat Cheese and Cherry Ice Cream by Jeni’s, a small batch ice cream company from Ohio.  However, the problem with Goat Cheese and Cherry Ice Cream is that it is really expensive to buy -- $10 -- $12 a pint depending on the store and the season.  Therefore it’s not something we can get often – until Jeni’s decided to publish their cookbook Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer.

Poor choice, Jeni.

This book has a bevy of different delicious recipes ranging from Sweet Basil and Honeyed Pine Nut to Influenza RX Sorbet and, yes, including a recipe for Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Toasted Cherries.  And, since it’s cherry season, I can buy the flavor ingredients for just under $10.  (Can you say “score”?)  Happily, this ice cream is just as delicious as the store-bought, which means we’ll be stocking up on it all this cherry season.  I can’t wait.

Ingredients

• Goat Cheese Ice Cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp cornstarch
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1 ½ oz. cream cheese, softened
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• Toasted Cherries
• 2 cups pitted fresh or frozen red or black cherries*
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch

*Note: For best results, chop half of the cherries into small pieces.  You’ll be glad you did.

Directions

1. First toast the cherries.  To do that, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Then combine the cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a baking dish, toss to mix.  Roast for 30 minutes until the juice are thickened and bubbly, stirring every 5 – 10 minutes.  (Make sure to check these frequently.  They will boil over otherwise.  Put a pan underneath the dish to be safe.)  Once finished, let them cool completely before putting them in the fridge to chill.
2. Now make the goat cheese ice cream.  Start by mixing about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.  Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, and salt until smooth.  Set aside.
4. Fill a large bowl a third of the way full with ice and water.  Set aside.
5. Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.  Bring it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for about 4 minutes.
6. Remove milk mixture from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.  Return mixture to heat, bring back to a boil, and cook (stirring constantly) until slightly thickened for about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.
7. Gradually whisk ½ cup at a time the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth.  Once fully combined, place base bowl into the ice water boil until lukewarm (Do not use glassware for this.  I repeat, do not use glassware for this.).  Then transfer the base into a 1 galloon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath until cold for about 30 minutes.
8. Once the base is cold, pour it into an ice cream maker’s canister.  Churn according to directions.
9. Once the ice cream is churned, scoop it into a freezer-safe container, alternating between ice cream and cherries.  Do not mix.  Press cling wrap to the surface and seal with an airtight lid.  Freeze until firm – at least 4 hours. 

The result is very, very similar to a store-bought pint.  It’s creamy with a hint of sourness and sweet globules of cherries.  It’s also very rich and reminds me somewhat of cheesecake (so similar to my Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream base).  In the future, I want to play with the goat cheese-cream cheese ratio to help bring out the goat cheese flavor more.  I also want to chop up the cherries because I kept them as halves and that got to be a bit much for me.  Nevertheless, this is a delightful recipe that will impress the hell out of anyone that tries it.  Just please take my advice and do not suddenly submerge hot glassware into ice water.  You will be so, so upset that you did.

Enjoy!

Overview

• Base prep time: about an hour including the cherries
• Base chill time: about an hour
• Ice cream set time: at least 4 hours
• Taste: very rich and creamy, slightly sour base with sweet, juicy globules of cherry
• Difficulty level: low to medium
• Expense level: low to medium depending on what ingredients you already have and the season
• Makes: a little over 4 cups