Monday 26 July 2021

Strawberry And Blackberry Ice Cream With Spiced Cherry Compote

Strawberries and blackberries and cherries?  Yes of course.  Why not gild the lily, I say? :-)  Sure, it's not blackberry or cherry season but that's what freezers were invented for.  And yes it IS strawberry season here in sunny Queensland, though the ones I bought were a bit less ripe than I expected :( 

I know I've mentioned it before, but my sister and I used to pick wild blackberries for the local jam factory when we were kids, braving spiders and thorns and crazy drivers at times.  Can you imagine parents now letting their young kids go wandering off into the bush alone?  Or for that matter, can you imagine a jam factory taking in any and every berry that came their way, regardless of roadside spraying, poisons etc?  Oh, how times have changed.


oh so fruity!


This recipe is a mash-up of two recipes, one found in a book A Culinary Journey by Peter Gordon, the Kiwi chef, and the other from the blog Tin and Thyme, authored by Choclette, a UK blogger.  And with a bit of extra inspo from a recipe by Joanne from the blog Olive & Mango.  The compote is a winner, my friends - a wee bit of heat, sweet with the ginger, and a little bit spicy with the chilli.  Mr. Gordon is such a clever Kiwi chap (neither a fruit nor a bird, you see).



Makes 1.5-ish Litres:

 

ingredients:


For the 2 ice cream flavours:


300 g./10.5 oz of strawberries + 250g./9 oz of blackberries

1-2 tbs white balsamic vinegar or 1 tsp rosewater

2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

2 tbs Chambord liqueur or fruity liqueur of your choice

600 mL/20 oz thickened cream

300g./9 oz condensed milk


Cherry Compote:


150 mL/5 oz white balsamic vinegar or verjuice (or 80 mL lemon juice + 80 mL apple juice)

50 mL/1.7 oz water

100g./3.5 oz caster sugar

2 cloves

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 red chilli, finely chopped

300g./10.5 oz cherries, pitted and halved


Extra strawberries or blackberries, to serve

Dried organic rose petals, to strew on top


Method:


Chuck the strawberries, HALF the balsamic (or rosewater), and HALF the vanilla paste into a blender or food processor and whizz away for about 20 seconds till puréed

Pour out into a bowl, then throw the blackberries, the other half of the balsamic and vanilla into the blender - and whizz till you have a purée

Stir the Chambord into the blackberry purée

Beat the cream in a large bowl with electric beaters until you have pillowy soft peaks

Gently whisk the condensed milk into the cream for a few seconds, then spoon out HALF of it into another bowl

You now have 2 bowls with the cream and condensed milk mixture into which you will gently fold the strawberry purée in one bowl, and the blackberry purée into the second bowl of cream

Pour into 2 containers and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight (Choclette says she used a 1 litre container and a half-litre container - see my Notes below)

Make the compote whenever you fancy, as you will be waiting quite some time for the ice cream to freeze :-)


Compote:


Place all the ingredients EXCEPT the cherries into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer rapidly for 5 minutes

Now tip in the cherries, and simmer away for about 6-8 minutes till starting to go thick and syrupy - WATCH IT carefully as it bubbles up within seconds, as I found to my cost or should I say to Mr P.'s cost as he cleaned up the mess for me :-)

Let it cool, which was not a problem for me as I made the compote just after the ice cream, and so had 6 hours to wait - and don't forget to REMOVE the cloves

Serve a scoop of each of the lovely, pinky ice creams with the cherry compote, spooned over in a glorious pink lava - 'tra-la-la', and topped with more strawberries or blackberries or cherries if you wish to really gild the lily - and believe me, I always do!  And if feeling festive, cast on some rose petals for bling


Notes:


Choclette says you can use 2 tbs rose syrup (not rosewater) in the ice cream but I didn't have that!

I used white balsamic vinegar as I had no verjuice.  It is light and tangy and a wee bit sweet so it was perfect for the job

I used frozen cherries and blackberries, as we are mid-Winter, so too early for fresh

I just discovered that the ever-so-handy 200 gram tube of condensed milk is now only 170 grams!!  I have written an indignant email to Nestlé!

I used a 1.4L ice cream tub, plus a loaf tin that I'd lined with freezer film

Throw in a tablespoon of maple syrup to the purées if you wish for a bit of extra sweetness



strawberries ready for hulling

blackberry purée + cherries

whisk the cream to soft peaks

whip the cream and whisk in the con. milk gently

the fruit purées and the whipped cream and con. milk

tip the ice cream into the lined loaf tin

both ice creams ready for 6 hours in the freezer

ready for simmering

simmer away

bung in the cherries

oopsie!  one burnt burner

that's one tasty compote

sweet, hot, spicy - perfect



© Sherry M.

50 comments:

  1. The world is not as safe as before..as a kid, my brother and I played outside, not just outside the house, but everywhere with the neighbour kids ... we climbed on the trees to grab some guava and mangoes to eat...at that time we had no money, but freedom. These days kids glue to the computer and TV...
    I love the combo of different fruits in this ice cream..it actually created a very beautiful lilac colour that resembles to blueberries :-) The cherry compote looks amazing!

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    1. yes the world has indeed changed angie. We enjoyed the combo of fruits here, and yes the compote is great.

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  2. When I was a kid I basically left the house in the morning, came home for lunch and left again, and then came home for dinner. My mom had no idea where I was or what I was doing. Really different today. Anyway, this looks great. And I always have Chambord in the refrigerator, so that's what I'll use when I make this.

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    1. yep the same with us. mum and dad had no idea where we were all day:) I love Chambord.

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  3. Your ice cream looks amazing and I love the idea of the cherry compote. I can only imagine how good it tastes. Love your pic of your stove from the cherry compote.

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    1. thanks judee. the compote is so delicious. i do love a gas burner :)

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  4. Maple syrup always a great addition! Love this ,all the fruits are fabulous together. We did have fun picking blackberries in Warrandyte, where we lived outside Melbourne! Cheers, Suzie. (Batzloff) globalfarm. 🍓🍓

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    1. hi suze
      thanks for commenting! yep love to go blackberrying.

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  5. Times have definitely changed! Wow. But this is fabulous. I love all the berries together, and that compote… delicious!

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  6. Sherry,
    I can resonate with your times. We were four of us siblings, climbing mango trees and not returning home until mangoes and jack fruits and guavas all satiated us. Golden times are gone. I no longer would send my children off in the woods these days. Your compote looks so heartwarming and the colours are so livid bright. Thanks for an amazing recipe and behind the screen a burnt burner. Loved the realism here.

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    1. yes things are very different nowadays. thanks for dropping by.

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  7. It is a shame that the world has become so unsafe and the food chain is so messed up. Anyway, that being said, your recipe is wonderful.

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  8. Oh my, this looks sooooo good! I love the idea of adding the chilli and the ginger to the compote. Growing up, I lived right near Epping Forest and there were blackberry bushes everywhere. We used to pick them and eat them as we went along, we would not have been very good factory workers! Of course, we didn't worry about spraying and our mucky little fingers because it was the good old days!

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    1. yes we really loved the compote. so tangy and fruity and fresh.

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  9. I love any recipe that includes Chambord!! It's one of my favourite liqueurs along with Creme de Cassis :)

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  10. Now this is my kind of recipe! I know these fruits/berries are only just coming in down in your neck of the woods, but they are in season here right now. (I think we're on the tail end of strawberries though.) Either way, this sounds like such a good summer dessert! And the compote on top takes this to a new level!

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    1. nope we won't get cherries or berries for months david. we are mid winter and they don't come out till november. yep the compote is heavenly.

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  11. This looks so delicious and refreshing! It's another warm day here and you're giving me ideas!

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  12. Il tuo gelato è golosissimo! bellissimo post!

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    1. i think you are saying this is a good post. so thank you!

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  13. Strawberries,blackberries and cherries, yes please. They are the best fruit combinations ever

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  14. Yes Chambord is one of my favourites too. This looks like a delicious recipe Sherry, fruit compote and ice cream, a match made in heaven. It will be a winner in Summer. Growing up in the 50s and 60s was so free and easy, doubt life will ever return to times like that. As a 5 year year old I walked quite a way to school on my own,hard to believe now.Great recipe, thanks.

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    1. we loved the compote pauline. yes i used to walk to school as a tiny girl. Mum said she used to cry watching me go off.

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  15. Ooh, this looks lush Sherry. Glad to have inspired, but your spiced cherry compote sounds amazing. Also like the idea of strawberries and blackberries together. I feel really sad for todays youngsters. We had such freedom and it was wonderful and I think an important part of growing up and learning independence too.

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    1. we loved the compote choclette. Yes childhood is a very different thing these days.

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  16. Not quite sure if my comment went through. I have trouble posting via my Google Account. So just in case it got lost somewhere, here it is again!

    Ooh, this looks lush Sherry. Glad to have inspired, but your spiced cherry compote sounds amazing. Also like the idea of strawberries and blackberries together. I feel really sad for todays youngsters. We had such freedom and it was wonderful and I think an important part of growing up and learning independence too.

    Choclette x

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  17. Just reading how you and your sister used to pick wild blackberries for your local jam factory. Took me back to when my friends and I used to pick strawberries and raspberries here in Scotland during our summer for the jam factories here and to make some extra money! It wouldn't happen nowadays. I was 14 years old doing that. I think that's illegal now and you have to be 17 to work. LOL how times have changed. Anyway back to your recipe, I love it and that cherry compote, yum!

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    1. hi neil
      we were still in primary school so quite young. we got a shilling (or maybe a sixpence?) per pound of fruit? great pocket money.

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  18. I never had the pleasure of picking berries as a kid but we took our daughter to do the same when she was small.
    Right now I have a box of fresh blueberries and strawberries in our kitchen that I picked from farmers market yesterday. I am so excited to try your recipe in in a few hours! It looks amazing!

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    1. i hope you like it balvinder. use more condensed milk if you like it sweeter. yes our parents were crazy to let us wander off into the bush ...

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  19. We used to pick dewberries here in early June, and we often made some sort of dewberry cobbler with them.

    This looks delicious!

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    1. i've not heard of dewberries. fascinating. thanks!

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  20. Wow that looks so good and so summery. I love your story of picking blackberries for the local factory. Hope you are doing ok with the lockdown in Queensland - hope it is as short and sharp as they hope.

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    1. thanks johanna. we are doing fine tho i have a feeling this lockdown will go on and on ...

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  21. I'd say it's still the berry and cherry season around here, but I always have some frozen. And when it comes to cooking with cherries, I prefer using frozen most of the time cause I am not too excited about pitting them :) This ice cream looks and sounds wonderful. Loving this compote with a spicy kick, too!

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    1. thanks Ben. the compote is really zingy; we loved it.

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  22. I'm seeing this as dinner for Sunday night. What else do you need? You've got your fruit, protein and dairy. What more do you need? :)

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  23. Summer freshness at its best! Love this.

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