I canned cherries in wine. They have lots of cloves and have a delicious winter feel to them. The problem is that we aren’t eating them. I was thinking of adding them to ice cream, but I have always followed a recipe. I was thinking that they might be delicious with mascarpone or dark chocolate. How do you add things to ice cream though. Do I just toss some mascarpone into a base I like or is it super complicated and changes the texture and ability to set? Any guidance would be appreciated.
by ExcellentRound8934
4 Comments
Drain the cherries, cut into desired/bite size pieces. Place them on a tray with parchment paper and freeze them in individually in one layer.
Make your ice cream as per normal. Before transferring to freezer for hardening, fold in the frozen cherries.
You’re adding alcohol. That means an ice cream calc is *required*, because things are even more fragile that “normal.”
See [Ice Cream Calculators](https://jhermann.github.io/ice-creamery/info/web-resources/#ice-cream-calculators). See [Alcohol](https://jhermann.github.io/ice-creamery/tags/#tag:alcohol) for example boozy recipes.
This could be controversial but maybe get ChatGPT to help? I’ve done it a few times to experiment or invent something new-ish and they’ve turned out decent!
If ice cream calculators are intimidating to you, start by looking up a recipe that is close to the flavor profile you want and use that as a starting point for experimenting. I often look up 2-3+ similar recipes and then decide on adjustments I want to achieve the flavor I’m looking for. Use a kitchen scale, and make note of any adjustments you make from the original recipe, so that if something doesn’t turn out to your liking you have a starting point for knowing what to change. For example, I use The Perfect Scoop cookbook as a go to, and he has a creme fraiche recipe I’ve successfully swapped out with mascarpone with success. Prior to making this, I would search online or in other ice cream cookbooks for other mascarpone bases for reference to gauge if the amount of mascarpone I’m using seems right. Also, most ice cream cookbooks have a section on mix ins that can be helpful for finding how similar ingredients are handled. I’m assuming your canned cherries are already high in sugar (which will prevent them from turning into ice cubes in your ice cream once frozen). If not, I’d simmer them down with some additional sugar and to cook out some of the liquid from the wine. You ideally want a jam like consistency you can fold in as a ribbon. Good luck and have fun with the experimentation!