Whoa. Summer is just flying by, isn`t it?! I think I am in denial that it`s already near the end of August. My summer classes ended the last week of July and I had two weeks of break before classes started again today. Let me tell you, those two weeks went by so quickly, I thought it was still the beginning of August!
As I mentioned in the previous post, my summer classes were intense. Like, it really was! I was constantly working, without any time to bake. We also had some heat waves in California, which led me to avoid the oven. I really miss baking, but when I`m inspired to bake something, my body is too tired for my mind to convince it to bake in the heat and then do all the dishes afterward.
So, before September arrives and summer comes to an end, I wanted to share with you one of my FAVORITEST ice creams I have made at home. No really, this ice cream is just quite amazing and blows most ice creams out of the water. All thanks to Jeni. Her ice cream base provides this smooth and thick, but not too thick, consistency that I love about ice creams.
When I was looking through her book, the wild berry lavender ice cream recipe instantly stood out to me. I added some toasted croissant crumbs to give the ice cream some texture, but not so big, like nuts. I was going for this crumble-like kind of taste.
My favorite thing about this recipe is the wild blueberries. I am a huge fan of using frozen wild blueberries and I loved that I could use them in this recipe. Gahh, eating this ice cream and coming upon a small little wild blueberry was just a joy. My mom, who doesn`t really like ice cream, could not stop saying good things about this ice cream, either. It was so delicious that I made it twice in a month. I ate every single bite, too!
Enough talk, you must squeeze in this ice cream into your summer ice cream collection! Any blueberry fan would be thrilled.
Wild Blueberry With Toasted Crumbs Ice Cream
Adapted: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home | Yields: 1 quart | Level: Easy-Medium | Total Time: 70 minutes + at least 4 hours chilling time
Ingredients:
Crumbs:
-
½ - ¼ Croissant
Blueberry Compote:
-
¾ cup wild blueberries, frozen
-
2 tablespoons sugar
Ice Cream Base
-
2 cups whole milk
-
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
-
1 ½ ounces cream cheese, softened
-
Dash of salt
-
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
-
2/3 cup granulated sugar
-
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
-
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1.
If needed, freeze your ice cream freezer bowl at least 24 hours in
advance.
2.
Prepare a large bowl with cold water and ice. Have a gallon zipper bag
placed inside a measuring cup (or any big cup/bowl). Set aside.
3.
In an oven or toaster oven, preheat oven to 350°F. Toast about ¼ to
½ of a croissant for about 10 minutes, or until croissant is well toasted and
crunchy.
4.
With your hands, crumble the toasted croissant into very small pieces
into a bowl. Set aside.
Blueberry Compote:
5.
In a small saucepan, add the frozen wild blueberries and sugar. Bring to
boil to let all the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.
6.
Remove from heat and let blueberry compote cool down.
Ice Cream Base:
7.
In a small bowl, mix about 2 tablespoons of milk with the cornstarch.
Set aside.
8.
In a large bowl, whisk cream cheese and salt together. Set aside.
9.
In a large saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, heavy cream, sugar,
and corn syrup. Heat until rolling boil, then, boil for 4 minutes. Stir
occasionally.
10.
Turn off the heat, slowly whisk in the milk and cornstarch mixture from
Step 5.
11.
Reheat and let mixture boil for 1 minute, it will thicken slightly.
12.
Gradually add mixture into the cream cheese, while whisking constantly,
until smooth.
13.
Add the blueberry compote and mix until combined.
14.
Pour everything into large gallon
zipper bag. Make sure bag is sealed, dunk in bowl with cold water and ice. Let
mixture cool down completely, at least 30 minutes.
15.
Snip a corner of zipper bag and pour mixture into your ice cream machine
and churn according to your manufacturer's instructions.
16.
While ice cream is churning, add the vanilla extract.
17.
For the last few minutes of churning, add some (not all) of the crumbled
toasted croissant.
18.
Transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container. Sprinkle some toasted
crumbs and press a sheet of parchment paper on top.
19.
Freeze ice cream until its firmer, about 4+ hours, or until it reaches
your desired consistency.
20.
Before serving each scoop, sprinkle some extra toasted crumbs.
*Notes:
-
It's easier to have the gallon
zipper bag placed in a vessel of some sort to hold it up. Optional.
-
I also like added a layer of plastic wrap on top of my ice cream to help
prevent freezer burn.
-
Homemade ice cream tends to be harder than store-bought ice cream. Let
ice cream soften up a bit on the container for about 10 minutes before
scooping.
