As mentioned last week, I absolutely love ice cream – who doesn’t, right? I crave it so much that my fiancé recently bought me an ice cream maker so I could try to make new flavors I always think should be in the grocery store – apparently, I have quite the flavor imagination!
Combining my appreciation for ice cream with my toddler’s love (I mean LOVES) for strawberries, I wanted to create a flavor that he would enjoy…but that wasn’t the typical strawberry flavor you can get most places; thus the idea for Roasted Balsamic Strawberry was created – then perfected, and now shared with you! If you don’t have an ice cream maker at home, see the notes section for how you can still make this delicious summer treat. Enjoy!
Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream
Active Time: 5 Hours
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 2 Quarts
Ingredients
- 4 CUPS STRAWBERRIES, HULLED AND SLICED
- 1 ½ TBS BALSAMIC VINEGAR
- 8 TBS SUGAR
- 2 EGG YOLKS
- 1 ½ CUPS HEAVY CREAM
- 1 CUP MILK, WHOLE OR 2%
- ¼ TSP SALT
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a medium bowl, gently mix strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and 2 TBS of the sugar until strawberries are well coated. Spread strawberries across a medium baking sheet and bake for approx. 10 mins, until strawberries are soft, and the juices have started to run out
- Remove strawberries from the oven and let cool for about 15 mins. Once cool, pour the whole pan, including the juices into a high-powered blender and mix until pureed
- While strawberries are baking/cooling (or once the strawberry puree is created if doing this during separate times), prepare the ice cream base. In a medium, heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside
- In a heavy saucepan set to medium-high heat, heat up the cream, milk, and salt until the edges start to boil, approx. 6-8 mins
- Using a handled measuring cup, dip into warmed milk mixture and pour in a slow, steady stream into the bowl with the sugared egg yolks while whisking constantly. Do this 3-4 times until the entire milk mixture is tempered into the egg yolks, seamlessly
- Pour the entire milk mixture and the strawberry puree back into the heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, approx. 5-8 mins
- Refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight
- Once the mixture has cooled and flavors have melded together, make the ice cream by following the instructions on your ice cream machine. Most likely it will simply entail pouring the entire mixture (8 cups) into the frozen base of the maker and turning on/churning for 25-30 mins. Serve immediately
Notes
- If you don’t have an ice cream maker, it can still be done, albeit with slightly more “leg work”. Make recipe as is through step 7. At that point, you will freeze vs. refrigerate. Place the entire mixture in the freezer for 45 mins. Remove and whisk with a hand mixer or stand mixer, long enough to break up any lumps starting to form, and whisk some air into the mixture BUT not too long that the mixture starts to melt again, approx. 3 minutes. Do this same procedure every 45 mins for the next 2 hours and 15 minutes, for a total freezing time of 3 hours, at which point it should be frozen to the consistency of soft ice cream.