Yes, it is that time of year to dust off the ice cream maker! I feel like I took a bit of a hiatus with my ice cream maker over the last summer or two. I’m not even sure why. I LOVE making ice cream from scratch. I just adore the different flavour combinations that you can make… like this rhubarb ice cream with a caramel swirl. Around this time of year I become obsessed with rhubarb and with it being so hot out having it in my ice cream is the perfect combination.
I was reading the NY Times a while back and came across this recipe for Rhubarb ice cream. I immediately saved for later use.
As far as ice cream recipes go this is pretty basic and easy to execute… but it does have some cool twists. Since rhubarb can be super tart, this recipe simmers it in sugar to form a compote that tames the tartness and injects some sweetness… well played. As for the the ice cream base, they had the brilliant idea of adding in sour cream. Yes, sour cream! It lends a great tang to the base and requires basically no extra work.
Truth be told I made this ice cream a few weeks ago and it holds up really well. It is super creamy, vanilla-y and rhubarb-y. A new fave for sure. I made the mistake of almost burning my caramel (and was too lazy to make a new batch) but otherwise all is good. It also goes really well with desserts that require a scoop of ice cream. Definitely think about pairing it alongside desserts featuring strawberries, apples, berries and probably some other goodness.
Rhubarb Ice Cream with a Caramel Swirl
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
1 and 3/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch fine sea salt
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 and 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Whisk together milk, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, vanilla bean seeds and its pod in a pot over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 30 minutes. Throw out the vanilla pod and bring the mixture back up to a simmer.
2. Put the yolks in bowl and slowly whisk in the warm milk mixture. Return the custard back to the pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and whisk in sour cream. Allow to chill overnight (or for at least 3 hours).
3. In a separate pot mix the rhubarb with 1 cup sugar. Simmer until rhubarb is tender and starts to release juices. Transfer rhubarb to a bowl using a slotted spoon and allow the liquid in the pot to simmer until syrupy. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb. Cool completely.
4. Add two tablespoons to a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the sugar begins to melt and take on colour add two more tablespoons of sugar. Swirl to distribute sugar. Add the last two tablespoons of sugar and cook swirling until all the sugar has melted and it caramelizes and turns dark brown. Pour in the heavy cream and two tablespoons of water (be careful, it splatters!). Simmer, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Cool.
5. Pour the custard base into an ice cream machine and churn. Add rhubarb compote and churn for another minute.
6. Pour a quarter of the caramel into the bottom of a quart container. Top with a quarter of the ice cream. Continue layering until all of the caramel and ice cream has been used, ending with ice cream. Freeze until firm (at least 2 hours). Serve!
YIELD One scant quart.
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Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you
have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
I use WYSIWYG but you can sometimes edit the code to customize further. Also a lot of templates have so many customization options that you don’t even need to think about playing with the code. Good luck!