Well hello there, summer!

Friday, June 3, 2011 by Marianne 4 Comments

Wow. It’s June already. I can’t believe it.

April was incredibly busy and May was a bit of a blur and now, here we are in June. Life’s been a bit of a blur, but I can’t complain because that blur has been pretty fun.

There was an April Fool’s Day snowstorm…

I feel the hate coming this way for posting a snowy picture in June 😉

And just two weeks later I was whitewater rafting on the Concord River.

I got to become re-acquainted with bike commuting in pleasant weather.

And went to a Steampunk Festival…

Complete with steampunk bikes!

And a Jane Austen tea and house tour.

And, oh, I visited the happiest…

…place…

…on earth!

And had an absolute blast!

(My first word was “Donald Duck.”)

But now it’s back to reality, but at least it’s summer-reality. And summer-reality just screams…

ICE CREAM!!!

I’ve been hearing about the magic of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams on the internets forever and decided I needed to taste some for myself. Since there aren’t any plans to visit Ohio in my future I knew I would have to take matters into my own hands, so I did:

This ice cream is both very delicious and a little wacky – there isn’t a single egg to be found but it does include cream cheese and cornstarch! Strange ingredients aside, it was a hit!

Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk Ice Cream
Recipe courtesy of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

• 1 pint strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened (4 tablespoons)
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Hull strawberries and slice. Combine strawberries with sugar in an 8″ square glass or ceramic baking dish, stirring gently to mix well. Roast for 8 minutes, or until just soft. Let cool slightly. Puree in a food processor with lemon juice. Measure 1/2 cup of the pureed berries; refrigerate the rest of the puree for another use. I had a quart of strawberries that needed to be used, so I doubled this part.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heat-proof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture in to the cream cheese until smooth. Add the buttermilk and reserved strawberry puree and blend well. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the ice cream mixture into the frozen canister of electric ice cream freezer and run according to directions of ice cream maker. Pack the finished ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours. Makes about 1 quart.

Serve with refrigerated strawberry puree poured over the top.

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