Cherry & Black Pepper Ice Cream
*see end of post for additional recipe details
One of the best parts of recipe development is figuring out which flavours go well together.
Some flavours are well known and classic;
peanut butter & chocolate
cinnamon & apple
lemon & blueberry
But sometimes I want to think out of the box. Or at least what I *think* is outside the box.
Take this ice cream for example:
Sweet Cherry & Black Peppercorn
Not expected, but it pairs together quite beautifully.
Black peppercorns can have the flavour complexity of a coffee bean. They can be quite fruity and herbaceous.
For this recipe I’m using a peppercorn blend from Piper.
Sourced from Kampot, Cambodia, they are hand-picked and sun dried. The peppercorns feature notes of eucalyptus, lemon and red berry.
I fell in love with how floral and zippy they are! So I chose to involve them in a dessert, and at the same time, take advantage of sweet cherry season.
And guess what? It payed off, because this ice cream IS DELISH.
Let’s make it!
Notes:
The stabilizers in the recipe are xanthan gum and kappa carrageenan. They will help keep the ice cream soft and pliable once stored in the freezer.
If you don’t want to use these, that is okay— just remember to remove the pint from the freezer 20 minutes prior to eating or else it will be quite difficult to scoop.
Recipe:
Special Equipment:
ice cream machine (Cuisinart Ice 21)
sieve
Cherry & Pepper Ice Cream
300g 2% Milk
300g 35% Cream
3g ground pepper
250g sweet cherries
40 corn syrup
110g granulated sugar
20g skim milk powder
1g xanthan gum
0.4g kappa carrageenan
1g salt
0.5g citric acid (sub 8ml lemon juice)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the stems from your cherries. Place them on a small baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and roast the cherries for approximately 25 minutes or until they become slightly shrivelled looking.
Remove from the oven. Allow them to cool before pitting the cherries.
After roasting the pitted cherries should weigh roughly 200g.
Separate the pits and the flesh into two bowls, and set aside. (Because the pits still cling to a lot of the cherry flesh, we will attempt to salvage it, in the steeping process)
In a small bowl combine the skim milk powder, granulated sugar, xanthan gum and kappa carrageenan. Stir to disperse the stabilizing powders. Set aside.
Place a medium pot over low heat. Add the milk, cream, ground black pepper, and cherry pits. Bring the mix to a gentle simmer, whisking gently.
After about 5 minutes, use a skimmer or small sieve to remove the cherry pits from the pot. Most the the fruit should have broken off from the pit into the milk. Discard the cherry pits.
Add the corn syrup and the remaining roasted cherries to the pot.
While whisking constantly, (so that clumps don’t form) add the skim milk powder mixture to the liquid.
Whisk to fully combine and dissolve the dry ingredients.
Allow the mixture to simmer together for about 5 more minutes on low heat, stirring frequently.
Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Use an immersion blender (or countertop blender) to blend everything together until smooth. At the end, add your salt and citric acid (or lemon juice if using). Stir to combine.
Pour the ice cream base through a sieve and into a medium sized bowl. Discard any lumps that remain in the sieve.
Cover the cherry ice cream base with plastic wrap so that the surface is in complete contact with the plastic. This prevents a “skin” from forming.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for 4-6 hours or better yet, overnight.
To Churn:
Once your cherry ice cream base has been left to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight), you can start to churn it.
Transfer the ice cream base into your prepared ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
I churned this batch in my Cuisinart for about 18-20 minutes. When it’s done it should be super thick!
Grab your desired container that you want to store your ice cream in (about a pint worth) and transfer the churned ice cream to the container.
Place a lid on top of the container and store in the freezer for about 20 minutes before serving!
To enjoy at best consistency: After storing in the freezer, please remove the pint and place on the counter to soften for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Best method for a great looking scoop, is placing a spoon in hot water first!
*I served this with a shortbread crumb, as well as cherries simmered in a cherry liqueur (that was sweetened with a touch of sugar).
