Blackcurrant ice cream

Ice cream is the most popular summer dessert and is loved by children and adults. I made this blackcurrant ice cream which turned out an extremely delicious frozen treat with distinct natural colour and the bold and tangy taste of blackcurrants.

• Egg yolks – 4
• Blackcurrants (fresh or frozen) – 150 g
• Sugar – 160 g
• Double cream – 500 ml
• Milk – 150 ml

Method is explained and illustrated below. Enjoy!

 

Place half the sugar into a saucepan…

… and another half into a whisking bowl.

Separate egg whites from yolks. Place egg whites in the fridge – you can use them for other recipes where you need them. For this recipe, you will need only egg yolks.

Add the yolks to the sugar in the whisking bowl.

Mix it well in with a whisk. No need to whisk it until very light and fluffy – it’s enough to mix it in and whisk the mixture by hand for a minute or two.

To the sugar in the saucepan, add milk and put on medium heat.

Stirring constantly, bring the milk to boil, but do NOT let it boil. By this time, sugar will melt completely.

When the milk is brought to boil, take off the heat and pour it into the egg and sugar mixture, gradually and in a thin stream, whisking constantly.

Once you’ve added all the milk, whisk it well in…

… and pour it back into the saucepan.

Put it on medium heat and, stirring constantly, heat it up until it thickens sightly (at approx. 82 C). Be very careful to NOT let it boil. This cream is called English cream, or crème anglaise.
Once the cream has thickened slightly, take it off the heat to cool down.

Now, prepare the blackcurrants.
If you are using frozen blackcurrants, you can just rinse them with warm water – no need to defrost them completely. Put them in a saucepan, and heat up very slightly to soften them up. If you are using fresh blackcurrants, no need to rinse and heat them – just put them in a saucepan.

Blend the blackcurrants with an immersion blender until it turns into puree.

 

Put the saucepan with the blackcurrant puree on medium heat, bring it to boil and then boil for another minute.

Take the puree off the heat, add to the English cream…

… and mix it well in.

Put the blackcurrant cream aside to cool down.
In the meantime, place double cream (cold, straight from the fridge) into a whisking bowl…

… and whisk until you get soft peaks.

Add the blackcurrant cream, cooled down to room temperature, to the whisked cream, and mix it well in.

Once it’s ready, place the mixture in the ice cream maker if you have it, and if you don’t (like me), cover it up and put it in the freezer.
However, in 30 to 40 minutes, take the ice cream out of the freezer…

… and whisk well with a hand whisk. Repeat 3 or 4 times.

Once fully frozen, the ice cream is of vibrant purple colour.

And it tastes heavenly! It’s soft, creamy and has very distinctive sharp taste of blackcurrants. In a hot summer day it’s pure bliss!