Strawberry Ice Cream with Balsamic Vinegar
Believe me, this tastes a lot better than it looks in my awful photo. My photography skills are still very much lacking. All I can say is: I'm working on it!
So please give this one a go. It's really easy and it's really tasty too. Just 4 ingredients. One of which is balsamic vinegar.
In these sophisticated, globe trotting times this probably doesn't seem as strange as it might once have done. Restaurants seem to be dribbling balsamic over all sorts of desserts these days.
The original recipe is of course Italian. Gelato Di Fragole All'Aceto Balsamico originates in a book called Entertaining all'Italiana with Anna del Conte.
But I found it in my old favorite Ices: The Definitive Guide by Liddell and Weir.
Be careful with the balsamic though. It's really intense. At least mine is. And if you add too much it can be overpowering.
So I would recommend starting with a teaspoon and then increasing the dose as you taste the mixture, working up to a tablespoon, max.
Strawberry Ice Cream with Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients
- 450 grams Fresh strawberries
- 150 ml Whipping / Heavy cream 32 - 40% fat, chilled
- 150 grams Granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Wash, dry and remove the green stalks from the strawberries. Then blend them in a food processor with the sugar.
- As the food processor is running, pour in the balsamic vinegar. Be careful not to add too much. The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp. You may want to add a little at a time and taste it though.
- Once you have a smooth puree transfer the mixture to a bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 2 - 3 hours. During this time the sugar and the vinegar should intensify the flavor of the strawberries.
- Combine the cream with the puree and pour the mixture into your ice cream maker
- Churn until the mixture has the consistency of whipped cream. Then transfer it to a plastic freezer box and freeze for around 1 hour.
- After an hour it should be soft enough to serve directly from the freezer but firm enough to melt slowly. If you've left it in the freezer for longer and it's too hard to serve, simply leave it out until it's softened.
