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Today I would like to introduce you to Carolyn. She writes over at All Day I Dream About Food. She is amazingly talented, and super sweet. She was one of the first few food bloggers I discovered, and I have been going back ever since. I helped her out a couple months ago with my Peanut Butter Protein Balls, and with as busy as she is (she has 3 kids), she was kind enough to return the favor. Carolyn was also one of the first respond to my all call for help with the Colorado Wildfires Bake Sale. Make sure you check it out, I have almost 45 items up for bidding, and 3 amazing prizes to win.
If you are not already familiar with Carolyn, I highly suggest you visit her site. Amazing pictures and wonderful inspiration.
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It’s strawberry season here in New England! Actually, by the time you read this, strawberry season will just be coming to a close. But Erin asked me to do this guest post several months ago, and at that time we were enjoying a very early spring. The lovely warm weather had me daydreaming of fun family activities like strawberry picking. That always goes over well with my kids, no matter what kind of mood they are in. We have a favorite berry farm and the kids relish in standing in the middle of the strawberry fields, stuffing their faces. What it really comes down to is the parents picking the berries to take home and the kids feasting and not filling their baskets at all.
Strawberry rhubarb is, in my opinion, the ultimate early summer flavor combination. And in fact, I should probably call this ice cream Rhubarb Strawberry, because I like a high ratio of the rhubarb to the berries. I love the tartness of the rhubarb being offset by the sweetness of the berries. You can switch up this recipe, if you prefer more berries, but I think a 2 to 1 ratio is just about perfect. I’ve always loved strawberry rhubarb sauce drizzled over vanilla ice cream, so when Erin asked me to guest post, it suddenly occurred to me to swirl the sauce INTO the ice cream. I mean, why not just mix them all up together from the get-go?
So I cooked up a batch of strawberry rhubarb (rhubarb strawberry?) sauce. Then I made a vanilla ice cream custard base and churned it in my ice cream maker. Toward the end of the churning, I took about a cup of the sauce and added it to the ice cream maker to let it mix in. Once churning was complete, I transferred the ice cream to an airtight container and swirled in another cup of the sauce. I put the whole thing in the freezer to firm up, and after dinner I had a delicious scoop of homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Swirl Ice Cream. With a little extra Strawberry Rhubarb sauce on top, because that’s how I roll.
Now, if you don’t know my blog, All Day I Dream About Food, then you may not know that I am a diabetic who eats low carb. So this recipe is made with almond milk and some sugar alternatives. But you can make it just as easily with whole milk and sugar and it will work out just as well. And many thanks to Erin for asking me to guest post. Dinners, Dishes & Desserts is one of the blogs I follow religiously, so I am thrilled that she asked me to contribute.
Strawberry Rhubarb Swirl Ice Cream
Ingredients
Custard Base:
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, (or whole milk)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 granulated erythritol, (or 1/3 cup sugar)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 12 drops stevia extract, (omit if using sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce:
- 2 cups sliced rhubarb
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
- 1/4 cup granulated erythritol, (or 1/4 cup sugar)
- 2 Tablespoons plus 2 tsp water
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot or cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons vodka, (optional, helps prevent iciness)
Instructions
- For the custard, combine almond milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in granulated erythritol or sugar and cook, stirring continuously until cream mixture begins to steam but does not boil, and reaches 175F on an instant read thermometer.
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the hot cream to temper the yolks. Once combined, slowly whisk egg yolk mixture back into saucepan. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 180 to 185F on an instant read thermometer. Custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in stevia extract, if using.
- Pour custard into a bowl set over an ice bath and let cool 10 minutes. Then cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- For the sauce, combine strawberries, rhubarb, erythritol or sugar and 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until berries release their juices and fruit is easily mashed with a fork, 5 to 10 minutes. Off heat, mash the fruit, leaving some chunks if you like. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 2 tsp water and arrowroot or corn starch. Stir into fruit mixture and return to heat until sauce is thickened, about 3 minutes. Let cool.
- Take about 2 cups of strawberry rhubarb sauce and toss with 2 tbsp vodka. This step is optional but will help reduce iciness in your ice cream.
- When custard is chilled, stir in vanilla extract. Pour into canister of an ice-cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. In the last 5 minutes of churning, pour half of the strawberry rhubarb sauce into the ice-cream maker.
- When fully churned, transfer ice cream to an air-tight container. Swirl in remaining rhubarb sauce. Cover with plastic wrap flush to the surface and freeze until firm, about 2 to 3 more hours.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**Thanks so much Carolyn for helping me out today. This ice cream looks so creamy and delicious!
Awesome guest post! And this ice cream looks amazing! I haven’t jumped on the rhubarb bandwagon yet but I will soon when I make this!
Not sure who will answer, but I am unfamiliar with erythritol. I would love to know a new sweetener (other than the old standby that makes me so hyper I can’t sleep for days) so yeah, bring it.
Or at least tell me where to buy it? 🙂
Recipe looks great and I just bought a big pile of rhubarb because I don’t have an apartment.
I will forward this to Carolyn, and see if she can answer – I am not familiar with very many sugar alternatives.
Thanks. I’d appreciate an answer. Really curious…
Hi Marti,
Erythritol is sold under a number of different brand names, one of them being Truvia. I typically use Swerve, which isn’t yet available everywhere but can be ordered on their website. Despite it’s very chemical sounding name, erythritol is a naturally-occurring substance found in fruit and fermented foods. Hope that helps!
What a classic combination of delish-ness! With all of this hot weather, this is a perfect summer treat!!!
All of your recipes are so yummy looking! I’m and avid follower! I’d love for you to share one or more of your dishes on my linky party, Southern Sundays…it’s going on right now. Hope to see you there! http://www.alisceofsouthern.blogspot.com
Another wonderful and delicious idea for ice cream! Thanks!
What super ice-cream flavor, it looks delicious and I know I could eat all of it. I’m such a ice-cream fan.
That sounds so yummy! My ice cream maker just came today; I’m thinking about trying this recipe as our first attempt at home-made ice cream.