Mulberry-Swirled Goats Cheese Ice Cream

I have had a self-imposed break from the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop of late. Just as this month’s theme was announced, however, a few things came together. My course finished, my long coveted ice cream book arrived in the post and I discovered that my neighbour’s tree still had mulberries when I thought I had missed them this year. Serendipity.

The theme for this month’s hop, hosted by Nic of nic cooks, is cheese.  I love cheese in all forms and have even made my own over the years.  I will happily just eat chunks of good cheddar or parmesan as a snack, and put it in savoury dishes all the time, but have never thought to include it in sweet indulgences.  Other than cheesecake, which is nothing without cheese.

As I have been obsessed with making ice cream of late, the opportunity to include cheese in a frozen concoction was extremely intriguing. The Princess was not so sure, and assured me she was having none of it.  Fine by me, more for Mr Grumpy and me.  David Lebovitz does not appear to share The Princess’s reservations, and my new book has many cheese ice cream recipes to play with.

I settled on a goats cheese ice cream. I love the soft creamy texture of fresh goats cheese, or chevre, and use it regularly as a lunch spread for sandwiches. It is excellent with sun ripened tomatoes and a bit of black pepper. There are some great goat cheeses on the market, but I recommend you try a few brands if you don’t like the first one. Some brands taste like old goat to me.

I am particularly partial to the Meredith Dairy brand. It is a lovely, light tasting cheese. I also really like that the fresh cheese is wrapped in a paper liner, ensuring it does not come into direct contact with the plastic. Fats can leach chemicals from less stable plastics  so I try to limit situations where fats (like cheese) are stored in contact with plastic. The paper liner also allows the cheese to be easily extracted from the packet, so it doesn’t stick to the sides and leave half your expensive cheese behind.

I’ve long wanted to try an ice cream with a fruit swirl.  The slightly tart flavour of mulberries offsets the sweetness of the ice cream, which tastes like cheesecake filling.  I found myself licking the ice cream paddle to get every last drop.  And as for The Princess?  It appears she overcame her cheese ice cream phobia.

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Mulberry-Swirled Goats Cheese Ice Cream

This ice cream conjours up cheesecake in my mind. If you don't have access to mulberries, you can use any other berry. Just don't make the fruit puree too sweet.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Calories

Author Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas (adapted from David Lebovitz)

Ingredients

Mulberry Puree

• 100 g fresh mulberries
• 2 teaspoons raw sugar optional

Goats Cheese Ice Cream

• 230 g fresh goats cheese
• 400 ml full cream milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 100 g raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Mulberry Puree

• Place the mulberries and sugar (if using) in a small saucepan.
• Cover with a lid and simmer over a gentle heat until the berries are soft and have released their juices.
• Place a fine sieve over a bowl and pour the berries into the sieve.
• Press the berries through the sieve to create a thick puree.
• Discard any remaining solids in the sieve.
• Place the puree into the fridge until required.

Goats Cheese Ice Cream

• Crumble the goats cheese into a bowl and set aside.
• Place the milk into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat.
• Place the egg yolks and sugar into a medium sized bowl.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar together until frothy.
• Continue to whisk whilst pouring the warm milk into the egg mixture.
• Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan.
• Stir continuously over a gentle heat until the mixture has thickened. The mixture is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
• Pour the custard over the goats cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.
• Cool the mixture in the fridge and then churn in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturers instructions.

Swirling the Ice Cream

• Place a container for the ice cream in the freezer at the same time as you start to churn your ice cream.
• When the machine has finished, scoops spoonfuls of the ice cream into the cold container.
• Drizzle over some of the mulberry syrup.
• Cover the syrup with further scoops of ice cream.
• Repeat until all of the ice cream is in the container.
• Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight

Notes

The mulberries I used were quite sweet and didn't require much additional sugar. Assess how tart the berries are as more sugar may be required.

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Don’t forget to check out all the other cheesy desserts at the end of this post.