Raspberry Ice Cream - The 5-Minute Method

I adore berries, pretty much any kind - blue, black, straw, rasp, or mul, you name it:=)  And a super quick and easy dessert like this one has to be a real winner in our seemingly time-poor days.  I got the basic idea from Matt Preston, the Masterchef judge cum food critic cum cookbook author.  And I just happened to see a few minutes of a cooking show with Miguel Maestre (tv chef) recently. 

He was at a tropical resort, where he made an iced treat with frozen mango and mascarpone.  Even though I have been a Queensland gal for many a year, I just can't do the mango thing.  But I adore raspberries, so they became the hero of my icy, sweet treat.  They bring to mind the gorgeous and tiny wild berries we used to pick on our walks in Britain, back in the days when a ten-mile hike in the pouring rain up hills and down stony creek beds meant nothing to our young feet.  I think we're lucky to do a two kilometre walk these days:-)

gloriously pink

Recipe adapted by Sherry's Pickings:

Serves 4-6:


ingredients:


500g. (17½ oz.) of frozen raspberries

200-250g. (7-8 oz.) of mascarpone

60g. (6 tbs) of icing/powdered sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1-2 tbs (20-40mLs) of vodka or gin (optional)

125g. (4 oz.) of fresh raspberries for serving


Method:


Tip the frozen fruit into a large food processor

Give it a whizz for a minute or two to break down the fruit

Add the mascarpone, icing sugar, vanilla and alcohol (if using) into the bowl and whizz again - you'll think it's never coming together but keep whizzing, then stop and scrape it down a few times.  At this point, keep pulsing and scraping down till smooth

It may take up to five minutes to become completely smooth and fabulous but fear not! - it will do so

Serve immediately, with fresh berries

Best if eaten immediately, but can be put into the freezer for a day or two if you have leftovers

Make sure you take it out of the freezer for ten minutes or so before eating



Notes:


Frankly, buying half a kilo of fresh raspberries then freezing them would be wasteful and very expensive, so I strongly suggest buying the best-quality frozen ones you can!

Use all the mascarpone if you want a really creamy dessert

Keep pulsing and scraping the mixture down, and pulse some more to get a smooth mixture

Add more icing sugar if you like it sweeter

ingredients gathered

whizz those berries!

whizzed!

ready to eat

pink and tangy

freeze leftovers for a couple of days

  raspberry artwork by Sherry's Pickings