Raspberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Pretty in pink

I scream! You scream! The police come! It's awkward!

But, seriously, I love ice cream, even though it doesn't tend to love me back. B has a pretty severe lactose intolerance, so out of laziness, I just flat-out don't buy dairy products anymore. Yes, you read that right; I don't purchase dairy products because I'm lazy.

Yeah so we're a family of lumps. Wanna fight about it?

See, I don't want to make the effort of cooking two separate meals at night, and dirty two sets of pans, just because I might feel like having a little butter on my pork chops. Frankly, now that veganism has made so many demands of food companies, I'm reaping the benefits. I can have cheese that melts and stretches and tastes like cheese. I can have butter that's not butter at all but still tastes like and behaves like butter when I bake it. Finding milk has been the actual struggle, but I find that the almond-coconut blends from SO Delicious and Blue Diamond have been the best matches for us. They're drinkable and tasty, and act quite similar to dairy milk in baking and pastry applications. I use the SO Delicious brand of coconut milk when I make ice cream, and it hasn't failed me, yet!

I made this flavor of ice cream because of a serendipitous find at the Overland Park Farmer's market in Kansas City, where I live. I like to go to the farmer's market on Saturdays and walk around, get fresh fruit, people watch, and maybe get myself a new bouquet of flowers from the very nice Vietnamese family at the end of the line. I'm extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful farmer's market near me; not a lot of people have it, and for that I'm truly grateful.

Plus, like, you'll occasionally see THE BIGGEST CABBAGES EVER

There's a shop I sometimes partner with called The Tasteful Olive. They specialize in artisanal oils and vinegars, in just about every flavor you can imagine. Lemon olive oil. Blood Orange White Balsamic Vinegar. Chili Almond Oil. Oregano White Balsamic Vinegar. The list goes on and on, and I frankly couldn't even begin to fathom how they keep track of it all - but I'm grateful that it's there and I'm grateful that they do. As it just so happens, the lady that I buy my berries from had fresh raspberries, and the raspberry balsamic vinegar I'd found at the end of the market was just too perfect-sounding to pass up. Now, I could make a raspberry balsamic vinaigrette for all of my salad greens when I got home, but where's the fun in that?

Raspberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Yes. You have to weigh the berries.

• 150 g white sugar
• 45 g coconut milk powder
• 600 g SO Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage, divided
• 2 egg yolks
• 15 g powdered gelatin
• 170 g fresh raspberries
• 32 g Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar(Aged Balsamic works, too!)

Measure the coconut milk and then sprinkle the gelatin over the top in a single layer to allow it to bloom. Combine the egg yolks and sugar via whisk in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Whip until fluffy by hand, and then add in the bloomed gelatin along with half the coconut milk. 

Bring to 185 degrees F, whisking constantly, then remove from heat. Add the remainder of the coconut milk and the balsamic vinegar. Add in the raspberries and then puree everything in a blender. You may strain it, if you like, but I don't mind the seeds. 

Transfer the blended mixture to a plastic container and chill in an ice bath. You can also set it in the fridge overnight, but it's up to you on how long you'd like to wait. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I used an ice bath and stirred constantly to cool down as quickly as it could. Once chilled enough so that it's - at very least - room temperature, process in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. My machine took about 30 minutes to process the dessert, and it took an additional 2 hours for my freezer to harden it enough to eat. (This is also because my freezer is crazy-strong and it’s brand new. If your fridge is a little more seasoned, let it hang out for at least 4 hours or so, ideally overnight.)

I love this ice cream because raspberries epitomize the absolute height of summer flavors for me. The tangy brightness of the raspberries and the deep and mouth-watering tang of the balsamic vinegar somehow made this ice cream the absolute ideal for me. I can’t quite explain it, but something about the ice-cold creaminess plus the fresh raspberry taste plus that tangy mouthfeel a good aged balsamic vinegar gives you on the inside of your cheeks is just so well-rounded and satisfying. It’s as if you reach the zenith of tasty mouthfeel and think to yourself: “Ah, yes. There it is.”

Oh, and if you're not following me on Instagram, please feel free to! I show a lot of neat stuff on there, both from work and from home life.

Raspberry Balsamic Ice Cream #Wannabgourmande #cheflife #foodiechats #icecream #dairyfree #localvore #raspberry

A post shared by Chef Kolika (@wannabgourmande) on Jul 3, 2017 at 3:07pm PDT

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and please let me know if you try out this recipe! Happy cooking and happy eating!