Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

For Easter Brunch this year, I was asked to bring a "fun" ice cream.  I wasn't sure what that meant (isn't ALL ice cream fun?!?) but later it was clarified that strawberry cheesecake ice cream would be great. So that is what I made and it was delicious!

ROASTED STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM
adapted from Handle the Heat

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
3/4 c. raw cane sugar, divided (1/4 c for the berries; 1/2 c. for the ice cream mixture)
1 T. balsamic vinegar
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. whole milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
3 tsp. lemon juice
2 T. Lyle's Golden Syrup (or corn syrup)
1/4 t. fine sea salt
2 t. vanilla bean paste
4 whole (rectangle) graham crackers, chopped

Preheat the oven to 300.  Line a half sheet baking pan with parchment paper.

Mix the quartered strawberries with 1/4 c. sugar and the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.  Spread the strawberries over the parchment paper in one layer.  Roast for about 30-40 minutes, or until they are darker in color, soft and the juices have released. (and they will smell heavenly!)  Transfer the strawberries to a medium bowl and mash until only small pieces of fruit remain.  (I used a hand blender so they were chopped probably a bit more than they should have been.  But it was still delicious!!)  Chill the berry mixture in the refrigerator about 1 hour, till completely chilled.

In the meantime, blend the remaining ice cream ingredients (except the graham crackers) in a food processor until the mixture is smooth.  I pulsed for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to one day.

When ready to churn, pour the mixture into an ice cream maker.  Freeze according to manufacture's directions.  During the last 5 minutes of freezing, add most of the roasted strawberries and chopped graham crackers. Pour into an ice cream container and press plastic wrap or parchment against the ice cream.  Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.

*  I put about half of the ice cream into the container and added a layer of roasted strawberries and then garnished the top with a few more strawberries and chopped graham crackers. 

I let my machine churn a few more minutes so the strawberries blended a bit more than they "should" have, but the end product was delicious and tasted like wonderful strawberry cheesecake..

Pin It Now!

Christmas Cookies - A decadent memory from 2014!

The week before Christmas I was busy making a wide variety of cookie dough and baking. The recipes are all courtesy of very talented food bloggers who receive full credit with the recipe links below.  Every one of these turned out perfectly and some are clearly my new favorites!

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

These were coated in sparkling sugar. 

The sparkling sugar gave them a little festive sweet crunch!

Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies

A combination of cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg  is the perfect holiday taste treat

Cherry Almond Shortbread

Dough balls ready to bake - and oh so good

Chocolate Crinkles -- oops - totally forgot to photograph these at ANY stage (but they are in the cookie platters - covered on powdered sugar goodness...


Peppermint Oreo Truffles

Need to work on my candy dipping technique...

Creamy goodness on the inside....  scrumptious!

Yes they were all fabulous - all soft and chewy and full of flavor.  I could not wait to share them with family and friends and they were indeed a hit. I may have finally found a combination of tastes that I can successfully recreate every year (instead of having to dream up a new array every year!)

I was so busy baking that I failed in the photograph department. I didn't get each recipe in all of the same stages - I have some in the dough stage, some freshly baked but there is no consistency except that they are all represented on the cookie platters! (ok - not true either - the truffles were in the refrigerator til the last minute so didn't make the platter photos - photo fail!) Hopefully you can use your imagination - I will do better next year (I hope - no promises!)

If nothing else,I hope that this inspires you to try new things even when you aren't sure of the results. I took a bit of a risk and I am so glad I did!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Pin It Now!