I love sour cherries and this delightful ice cream, fragrant with almond flavour and full of cherries and chunks of dark chocolate doesn’t disappoint. Adapted from this recipe from The Kitchn.
In a saucepan combine the contents of a 680g (24 oz) jar of morello cherries with ½ a cup of sugar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or so. The liquid will reduce a little. Cool to room temperature then drain the cherries, reserving the liquid for later. For the ice cream measure 2 cups of full fat milk and remove 2 tablespoons of the milk to make a slurry with 4 – 5 teaspoons of cornflour (cornstarch). Heat the remainder in a saucepan with 1¼ cups of heavy cream, ⅔ of a cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup. Bring to a boil then simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cornstarch mixture then return the pot and bring back to a boil. Whisk and cook for 1 minute until the mixture is thickens. Cool the mixture in an ice bath. When the ice cream mixture is cool, put the mixture in a blender with 45g (1½ oz) of cream cheese, 1 teaspoon of almond extract and ⅛ of a teaspoon each of salt, xanthan gum (optional) and guar gum (optional). Blend until very smooth and refrigerate, preferably overnight, before churning. If you’re making separate portions of ice cream, you can press the cherries and 115g (4 oz) of dark chocolate pieces into the moulds. Otherwise, stir them in right at the end of churning. Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.
michelle picker cooks 