Friday, June 18, 2010

Kumquat Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream













I don't want make this desert sound fancy, but believe me the tasted just like from sophisticated restaurant. I decided have a bit fun with kumquat and blueberries as both easily find here in Sunnyvale California. First time I've seen kumquat was in Singapore during Chinese New Year. It's cherry size oranges, grow abundantly that for Chinese descendant as symbol of good wealth or prosperity. The good news is that the fruits is edible, rather lack of imagination how to present in the table.

As a basic recipe, I looked at Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream from Dorie Greenspan. With the addition of kumquat should  give such strong flavor and tangy, the ultimate aim of our ice cream.


Ingredients:
(Served about 1.5 quarts)

2 cups of blueberries -fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw and drain)
1.5 cups of kumquat -slice and take seeds out
2 tablespoon grapefruit juice (you can use oranges, lime or lemon)
1 cup of sugar or more for taste
pinch of salt
2 tablespoon of dark rum
1.5 cup of heavy cream
1.5 cup of sour cream

Put blueberries and kumquat with juice, sugar and salt in medium non reactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 3 minutes.

Turn the berries into a blender and whir until about homogeneous puree, about 1 minute. (I purposely leave some lumps). Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse just to blend. Taste and if you'd like add a squirt more sugar.

Pour the custard into a bowl and refrigate until it is chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of ice cream maker and churn according the manufacturer's instruction.  Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Choc Banana: Ice cream for adult


Well, adult need treat and pleasure as they were kids. This ice cream recipe from David Leibovitz book Ready for Desert pg 147  involved no machine, straight forward without craving energy. The bitter choc came from 70% dark cocoa from Endanger Species, while very ripe plantain banana gave strong flavor to enrich the batter. I called it adult version as the recipe contains some liqueurs, such Baileys and dark rum. Since the bitter taste so intense, I decided to add 1/3 cup of sugar. The result just stunning.