Cherry Garcia type ice cream

[edit: originally I had Chunky Monkey in the title, Rob corrected me in comments.]


Frozen custard, actually, with caramel, tart cherries, and couverture dark chocolate.




Before whipping. ↑

After whipping. ↓ Notice how much the bulk fills the container more fully.






Dark couverture chocolate melted and spread to thin sheet and chilled. 


Caramel made thick and pourable by melting sugar in a pan, adding butter, cream, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract.

Now all the elements are ready; vanilla custard, tart cherries, dark chocolate, and caramel.


Tart cherries into whipped frozen vanilla custard. These are too pale to be any good. Another cherry must do. The frozen cherries available at the time were all sweet and not tart as they must be.


Chocolate pieces added to whipped frozen vanilla custard.


Caramel added to whipped frozen vanilla custard.


All additions now included, notice the bulk nearly fills to the top.


The frozen custard bears only vague resemblance to Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream due to insufficient additions and overbearing vanilla flavor.  I could have easily doubled all additions and not gone overboard. The cherries are not dark enough, not tart enough. They should be frozen or fresh not tinned. Maybe I can find something better.

It is very good. Let's not be too critical, but Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia is better.

8 comments:

Rob said...

Normally you're a font of unimpeachable information, but in this case I fear you've erred. It's Cherry Garcia your ice cream emulates, not Chunky Monkey, which is banana ice cream with fudge chunks and walnuts. But you're right about this: Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia is da bomb.

Chip Ahoy said...

Rob, you are right.

Thank you. I must now change it.

And I now I'm wondering if I've ever even had Chunky Monkey.

Because once I discovered the Cherry Garcia, I never bothered with anything else.

Rob said...

Like you, I don't think I've ever had Chunky Monkey either, and for the same reason. Though I have occasionally strayed to Chocolate Fudge Brownie--but usually in combination with Cherry Garcia, so it won't be jealous.

Meade said...

First macerate your fruit in sugar.
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2010/09/how-to-macerate-fruit.html

Chip Ahoy said...

Meade, thank you for the suggestion. I can see what that does. I just did it to fresh strawberries without flavor or texture.

These cherries are bad.

I'm thinking of tossing the other tin. They cannot be helped.

Planning, I was stuck on making sure to remember to buy frozen or tinned tart cherries, but I neglected to check for fresh ones. Duh.

Cherries in Ben & Jerry's are meaty and dark and tart and real. When you bite a broken piece it goes, POW, cherry!

That's what I'll look for, then use your idea.

Meade said...

Chip, you're welcome. I wish I could take credit for the idea but I got it straight from a friend in Cincinnati who is a professional maker of ice cream from a long line of makers of ice cream.

Frozen or tinned fruits are fine — maybe even better than fresh because they are usually picked at height of ripeness before flash-frozen, etc. — but the key thing, according to my friend, is that, in order to bring out maximum flavor, the fruit needs to swim in a sugar syrup for at least 24 hours before using it in the ice cream.

PS, Know what the pro's call the air that is injected into the ice cream as it's being processed? "Overrun"

Rob said...

In addition to (or perhaps as part and parcel of) macerating fruit used in ice cream, consider soaking it in vodka or some other alcohol, which serves as an antifreeze, preventing the fruit from becoming rock-hard in the ice cream.

Chip Ahoy said...

That's a good idea. Like Kirsch. I have that too, just for this type situation.

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