Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

Perhaps it's a little late to be posting about something that contains strawberries and--heaven forbid--rhubarb. I mean, I know it's a bit late in the season.

But in my defense I made this ice cream weeks ago and just had it in the backlog of things to post.  Actually, it was technically birthday ice cream for my partner but we didn't actually end up eating it until after his birthday and we've been downing it scoop by scoop since then.

Nevertheless, here it is in full force.  This is an ice cream to be reckoned with.  You know how everyone claims ice cream is really really fattening?

Well this ice cream easily makes a case for that claim.  I mean...it has quite a bit of fat.  We're talking whole milk, buttermilk, heavy cream and cream cheese.  Kinda scary right?  Well, don't fret because I just read an article about how fat is back.

That's right--butter, cream, whole milk and cream cheese are ok to eat now--at least in moderation.  But if you're still worried then I have one more defense for this ice cream which is the simple fact that it's worth it.  And I know that that's not really a strong defense but I'm not writing to guide people on nutrition.

Plus, like I mentioned earlier I think these things are ok in moderation.  And it has fresh strawberries and rhubarb so it all balances out.  Sorta. But let's really get back to this ice cream and stop discussing the mental dilemma of do I/don't I.  You do. Simple as that.  Let's move on.

I found this recipe from a fellow hometown blogger who--from what I read--adapted it from a boutique ice cream shop chain named Jeni's.

Jeni's is based out of Columbus, Ohio and they are known as a kind of a farm to cone type of place.  They use local ingredients and dairy products from pasture raised cows and all that good stuff.

And their ice cream is really good.  So I knew that this recipe, especially after seeing its list of ingredients, would be just as good.

It has a lot of great qualities such as its creaminess and abundance of great summer fruits so it's double cool.  So make this and eat this.  And with that I bid you adieu...

Recipe--which can be found on Dinner was Delicious as well:

1 pint of fresh strawberries hulled
2/3c rhubarb cut into 1/4" slices
3T balsamic vinegar
1/8tsp salt
1c sugar
1T vanilla extract
1 1/2c whole milk
1/4c buttermilk
1 1/4c heavy cream
3T cream cheese softened

-Preheat the oven to 400F
-Toss the strawberries and rhubarb along with the balsamic vinegar in a large baking dish
-Roast in oven for 15 minutes
-Remove and let cool completely
-After cooled, take 2/3 of the roasted strawberries and rhubarb along with the juice and puree it until completely smooth
-Set aside the rest of the fruit to fold in to the ice cream later
-In a medium sauce pan, combine the pureed fuit, sugar, salt and vanilla
-Cook over medium heat until the mixture is syrupy and thicker (took me about 15 minutes)
-Remove from heat and let cool completely
-Meanwhile, combine all of the fat in a large bowl (Note:  In the original recipe it's mentioned that although the cream cheese is to be softened, there may still be a few stray chunks in the mixture which will work themselves out in the ice cream maker.  This was true for me and they never really got worked out in my ice cream mixer so there were small chunks of frozen cream cheese in my ice cream--which isn't a bad thing but fyi...if you don't want that then either make sure the cream cheese is really really soft or strain it out before you put it in your ice cream mixer)
-Now combine the fat with the fruit syrup and stir together
-Then pour that into your ice cream mixture and mix/churn according to the instructions that your ice cream mixer model embodies and don't forget to fold in the fruit about 5 minutes or less before the ice cream is done (took mine about 20-25 minutes to churn out a good mixture)