Cherry Ice Cream

We are quickly approaching a difficult juncture: the split between summer and fall. For the fall-fanatics, good news: pumpkin beer is back! For the summer-lovers, good news: pumpkin spice lattes aren't back until after Labor Day! As always happens, this summer went by far too quickly. I never wrote out my official summer bucket list but I feel like not enough beach trips happened and I didn't make it to the cape. But I did make some ice cream, so there's that.

Before the return of cider donuts and pumpkin everything, let's enjoy some homemade ice cream, one more time. To make it extra-summery, let's use some summer fruit: cherries! Apparently these are already becoming a scarce commodity. So sad.

I want to try this ice cream again with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream but we're using a whole lotta thick dairy today. Sour cream, heavy cream and condensed milk are our dairy of choice. Cherries and sugar are simmered with a touch of Amaretto and a split vanilla bean (we're getting fancy). This mixture is then added to our dairy in a large bowl, stirred to pink perfection.

I have mixed feelings about ice cream makers. I'm not sure what is meant to happen when I pour my ice cream base into the frozen bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer and let it churn. Does it get thicker? Does it look like ice cream? I end up freezing the mix for a day anyways, why can't I just put it directly in the freezer? I probably could but for directions' sake, use your ice cream maker. Or just stick your mix in the freezer and serve the next day.

Regardless, this is very creamy. You can taste the sour cream but not in a weird way, in a surprisingly tart manner.

Recipe
from Not Without Salt

• 1 pound pitted cherries, cut into pieces
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 cup of sugar
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tablespoons of Amaretto liquor
• 1 can condensed sweetened milk
• 1 16 ounce container of sour cream
• 1 cup heavy cream

1. I used a cherry pitter aka: cherry guiatine to remove the pits. Place the pitted/diced cherries in a saucepan with the vanilla bean, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Simmer over medium heat and bring a low boil for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the Amaretto. Also remove the vanilla bean pod. Set aside to cool.
3. While the fruit is cooling, combine the condensed milk, sour cream and heavy cream in a large bowl. I found it easiest to use a whisk for this process. 
4. Once the fruit mixture has cooled, stir into the milk-sour cream-heavy cream mixture. This is where you get a pretty pink yogurt feel.
5. Now, if you're feeling adventurous, pour into a container and freeze. If you have an ice cream maker, churn the mixture according to the machine's instructions and freeze overnight. I found that's how long it took to set completely but you could serve sooner if you'd like.