I like making ice cream with fresh fruit in season, but I've been dissatisfied with how long the ice cream lasts in the freezer. Often after only a month or two it starts to become grainy as the ice crystals grow.
A few years ago I found
this recipe for making blackberry frozen custard, and it has never gone bad in my freezer yet. Even after a year in my freezer it is still creamy and delicious, so it has become my favorite way of preserving my blackberry harvest for the rest of the year.
I've made it with mangoes and now jackfruit with great results, with only a slight modification:
- Heat 1 cup sugar with 1.5 cups half-and-half on the stove in a large (4 quart) pot on low heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Beat 5 egg yolks on high in a electric mixer and slowly pour in some of the warm half-and-half mixture with the beater running on high to temper the egg yolks- beware it will get frothy and expand in volume.
- Pour the tempered egg yolks back in with the rest of the half-and-half and heat on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to boil. You'll know this is happening when it suddenly gets to be 4 times the volume in the pot- hence the need for a big pot.
- Take off the heat immediately and keep stirring for a minute or two, allow to cool for about 10 more minutes.
- Meanwhile, put 1.5 cups heavy cream in a blender with 4 cups cleaned jackfruit or mango, blend until smooth.
- Strain the warm-but-not-hot custard mixture through a sieve to get rid of any clumps, then mix in the fruit and cream mixture.
- Put in the fridge for several hours to chill, then in to the ice cream maker.
When making it with jackfruit, the mixture sets up to almost a jello-like consistency in the fridge before going into the ice cream maker, but still works great when frozen (it kicks ass at that stage too, as plain, non-frozen jackfruit custard!).