Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ice-cream (no ice-cream maker needed)

Desserts

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ice-cream (no ice-cream maker needed)

By Dixya

While half the country is below freezing, I am here with my fuzzy socks dreaming about summer..a girl can dream no? For some reason I have also been craving ice-cream. Well, I am not much of an ice-cream person and being lactose intolerant, I eat it rarely unless you are talking about red velvet or pistachio ice-cream from Sprinkles. It’s not getting warm here anytime soon but I just could not wait to make an ice cream. Who cares what it is like outside as long as I am staying in with my fuzzy socks and snuggie right? Since valentine’s day is right around the corner, I decided to go with strawberries, a valentine cliche and pair it with balsamic vinegar, they are a match made in heaven after all..

Normally when I see an ice-cream recipe I will drool over it and sometimes even pin it for later when I get myself an ice-cream maker. But if you are like me, who has no space or need for more kitchen appliances right now but can’t resist the idea of homemade ice-cream, this one is for you.

Roasting strawberries slowly with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar brings out the robust strawberry flavor in the ice-cream. I left small chunks of strawberries in the mixture instead of pureeing them and it was the best part of the whole ice-cream experience besides the fact that I ate it for breakfast straight from the container.

I followed David Lebovitz method of freeze and stir where the mixture is stirred vigorously every 20 minutes or so to break the ice crystals from forming and to make sure the final texture is creamy. The recipe for this icecream is adapted from closetcooking & zoebakes.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ice-cream

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries (about 3/4 pound), cleaned
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoon light corn syrup

1.5 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

splash of vanilla extract

Directions:

– Preheat the oven to 400F.
– Toss the strawberries in the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small baking pan.
– Roast the strawberries oven until they start to get little mushy but not completely, about 20-25 minutes.
– Place the strawberries and its juice into a container and chill in the fridge. Add corn syrup the mixture before chilling it.
– In a small sauce pan, heat cream, milk and sugar until it almost boils. Keep an close eye.
– Turn down the heat to low.
– Add a small amount of the cream mixture to the eggs to temper them. Then slowly add the egg mixture to the sauce pan.
– Cook at low heat until it thickens and can coat the back of a spoon. If you are unsure about tempering eggs this way, try this method.

– Strain the custard mixture for any bits and pieces of eggs.
– Chill the mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
– Mix the ice-cream base with strawberry mixture together.

– Pour the mixture in a freezer safe glass or a plastic container then freeze it for 40-45 minutes.

– Stir it vigorously with a whisk or a spatula and repeat the process every 20-30 minutes 3-4 times or until the mixture freezes completely.

So what are your plans for valentine’s day? Last year I made kale, spinach, mushroom lasagna roll ups although I really wanted seared lamb chops. Again this year, I am not sure what the plans are.. I am more of a let’s skip the fancy dinner and stay-in kind of a girl though.

If you are still looking for valentine’s day friendly ideas:

Beets Ravioli
Chicken Patties
Chocolate Dipped Brownies
Crockpot Marsala
Garlicky Mac N’ Cheese with Poblano Peppers
Healthy Valentine’s Day Full-Course Dinner
Layer Cake Built Two (needs six-inch pan)

Nutella Cupcakes for Two

Red Velvet Hot Chocolate

Teriyaki Salmon with Sesame Asparagus