Blackcurrant Ice Cream
I have forsaken the remainder of the raspberries to the caterpillars (as if I had a choice ) and as a consequence gifted with clouds of butterflies. As I walked around the corner, on my way to Blackcurrantvillas, I pass a raised lavender bed. It sounded like a rolling start of a formula one grand prix or should that read Grand Bee? Butterflies and Bees jostling for pole position.
Shortly after my little trug runneth over. Quite a few blackcurrants didnt make it back to the kitchen. Guilty as charged, I simply stood, quite mesmerised, by the buzzing bees and butterflies and may have eaten the odd currant or two?
OK, time to fess up I returned to the kitchen looking like a vegetarian vampire! An oxymoron if ever there was one.
The blackcurrants were warm, lush and ripe and I made an executive decision to wash and prep them straight away. After their bath they went straight into a pan with a drop of water and some sugar, on a gentle heat and were cooked within a couple of minutes. Quality control here already knew how sweet they were.
Keen observers will have noted the ‘were’, as opposed to ‘are’ in the last sentence. Yes, they were that delish, I digress…
I swiftly made a batch of the no cook vanilla ice cream as I’m prone to do in the summer. I reserve the right to slave over a hot stove in the winter, rather than the summer, unless necessity dictates otherwise. Theres a link above and the recipe is on the home page for interested readers.
The fruits willingly yielded their juice. The ice cream machine, also unusually keen and compliant, gave the little currants a chance to cool. Decanting the ‘spare’ juice into a spurious empty wine bottle seemed appropriate. Two suitable freezer containers were 2/3rds filled with the No Cook Vanilla ice cream and some of the blackcurrant pulp spooned on top and lightly squiggled. ( Squiggled is a well used culinary term here ). Both packs labeled Blackcurrant Ripple, now reside in the freezer here at Ice Cream Towers.
I had purposefully left some of the ice cream in the machine and added a small amount of the pulp to blend ( shown ). The remaining pulp is frozen separately to be served as a sorbet. There is every likelyhood that this will set like a brick, however 30 seconds in the food processor with a slug of Pimms or Bombay Sapphire Gin will soon sort that to become an utterly wonderous and hugely desirable sorbet. Alternatively a granita or maybe a cocktail. Any takers?
The blackcurrant syrup will feature again shortly….. and the tale of the Blackcurrant Ice Cream will be concluded in another post.
Enjoy! x
Looks so yummy!
Oh my god, it’s only 10am here and I am craving ice cream! Also, adding gin to anything will always be a win in my eyes!
We’re trying early? 6:30am here, and black currant ice cream has me scrambling about for some local black currant bushes.
Ice Cream at it’s finest!
The pictures are so enticing that I want to try it even if I don’t even know how a blackcurrant taste like.
Oh wow, this is stunning! Will definitely have to try it. Do you reckon it would work with blackberries instead? Thanks for the like on my post by the way, you made it the 100th like on my blog 🙂
Wow! Delicious.
This looks divine! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find any black currants, since fall is quickly shooing summer out the door, but I’ll keep an eye out next summer for sure.
This looks so good! Love how visual your blog is. Thanks for the like 🙂
I love black currants. They are my absolute favorites. We turn it all into jam, but I will give this a try next summer. Stay well.
This looks amazing!
Great post. I’m dealing with many of these issues as
well..
Dear Pansy, thanks for visiting our blog and liking my post on Brandied Cherry Berry Friands. They really look and taste fantastic but yet are ridiculously easy to make – do try them.
I love your site and I adore blackcurrants, I grew up with a huge garden and they were one of my mum’s home-grown favourites too. Sadly they are almost impossible to get in this country, even frozen ones. I would love to try this amazing looking ice-cream – bet it tastes sensational!
Cheers Mimsey
Love the “vegetarian vampire” line. This looks so tasty. Love the colours!
We always prep several batches of blackcurrant ice cream base to freeze during the blackcurrant season–one of our favourite ice creams at any time of year!