Strawberry-Balsamic Buttermilk Ice Cream & Bourbon Basil Lemonade

Journalist Harriet Van Horne said, “Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” I feel that way about summer too. Which is why I made this ice cream. For breakfast. (Well, I had it for dinner first- it was hot out!)

Folks often cite texture as a big problem when making fruit based ice creams. Fruit is full of water. Unless treated properly, all that excess water will turn your dessert icy. Fruit chunks crystallize and get, well, weird. The trick is to treat your fruit like another liquid ingredient, not as an add-in like chocolate chips or caramel, which is often folded into the custard right before (or after) churning. First, puree your fruit. A food processor or immersion blender works well. So do your hands or even a potato masher. Now strain the pulp. I use a colander lined with butter muslin, a very fine weave of cheesecloth. Allow to strain for at least a half hour. Then gather the ends of the cloth together and twist the top so it forms a sack. Press on the bag with the back of a wooden spoon to press any excess water out. The syrup left behind can be reserved for sauces, topping pancakes, swirling into yogurt or as a topping for more ice cream. For the amount of fruit puree used in your ice cream, swap out an equal amount of dairy.

The first time I made this ice cream, I did not use buttermilk. I also used strawberries from the Union Square farmer’s market. They were small and tart but ultimately not very sweet or ‘strawberry-y’.  In the custard, the fruit flavor was too subtle and the cream overwhelmed it.  The flavor of ‘strawberries and cream’ was good but didn’t do the summer strawberry justice.  I added a glug of my favorite balsamic vinegar. This vinegar boasts a grape-like and syrupy sweetness that tastes more like jelly than vinegar.  Just as I expected, it kicked the tart factor up a serious notch.  The second time I made the ice cream, I decided it needed more tartness still.  Nearly expired fresh buttermilk?  Bingo.

Strawberry-Balsamic Buttermilk Ice Cream

adapted from: my head
yield: 1 quart, appx.

Ingredients
1/2 cup (250ml) fresh buttermilk*
A heavy pinch kosher salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 1/2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 cup strawberry puree
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon (or to taste) good quality sweet balsamic vinegar

*Buttermilk, due to it’s lower fat content, will render your dessert on the icier side but does give it a nice tang. If you like your ice cream on the richer side, opt for whole milk and adjust the vinegar and/or lemon juice to taste.

Method
1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.

2. Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream.  Add the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and the strawberry puree.  Add any additional salt to taste.  Chill thoroughly, and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

Bourbon Basil Lemonade

yield: makes two drinks

Ingredients
4 ounces bourbon, such as Wild Turkey
2.5 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce triple sec (more lemon juice can be used instead)
3 ounces basil simple syrup**
Basil leaf for garnish

Method
1. Chill drinking glasses by filling with glass.
2. In the metal mixer of a boston shaker, fill with ice and, in this order: lemon juice, simple syrup, triple sec and bourbon. Allow to chill up to a minute.
3. Remove ice from drinking glasses and rim with superfine sugar. Re-fill with 2-3 cubes of new ice.
4. Shake drinks well. Strain and pour!

**Basil Simple Syrup

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar, super-fine or granulated
1 cup water
1 bunch or 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, rinsed well.

Method
Combine sugar, water and basil in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to barely a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain, pressing on the basil leaves with the back of a wooden spoon. Bottle.

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