Cherry and Two-Chocolate Ice Cream

This ice cream is my favorite that I’ve made so far. Of course, I’ve only made 3 others – meyer lemon buttermilk, roasted cinnamon, and lemon-basil sorbet – but this one was the most like one that I’d order at an ice cream shop. I never seem to be able to get my homemade ice cream as solid as I want to (any tips on that?), but this froze fairly well. The cherry flavor is sweet and intense, and the white and dark chocolate chunks add a little texture. The addition of cassis just before freezing gives it a lovely floral, slightly boozy layer that really makes it shine.

Cherry and Two-Chocolate Ice Cream

Makes 1 quart.

• 1 1/2 c. pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about 3/4 lb. cherries)
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 1 3/4 c. heavy cream, divided
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 TBS creme de cassis
• 3/4 c. chocolate chunks – mix of dark chocolate and white chocolate

1. Add pitted cherries, milk, sugar, salt and 1 c. of the heavy cream to a large saucepan.  Heat over medium-low heat just until it begins to steam, stirring occasionally, then lower the heat to the lowest sitting and let sit for 15 minutes, crushing the cherries gently against the side of the pot with the back of a wooden spoon about halfway through.  After the 15 minutes is up, remove from heat.
2. Pour the hot mixture into a blender and blend (always be careful blending hot liquids) until smooth.  Pour into a large glass bowl, and stir in remaining 3/4 c. heavy cream.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight until completely chilled.
3. Before assembling the ice cream maker (if your ice cream maker is like mine, the bowl should have been sitting in the freezer for at least 12 hours), remove the cherry cream from the fridge and stir in the lemon juice and cassis.  Set up ice cream maker, and process cherry cream according to directions.  About 1-2 minutes before the ice cream is done, pour in the chocolate chunks and let mix in.  Remove the ice cream from the ice cream maker and freeze for another 1-2 hours before serving, to let it harden up a bit.  This is delicious served with an extra drizzle of cassis.