Brown Butter & Cherry Ice Cream

Generally, I'm not much of a creative cook. I find a recipe, follow it (usually exactly) and then move on with my life. Not much to it. However, I was inspired by the 11 pounds of cherries we picked the other day and thought of the cherry and brown butter combination for ice cream. I've never actually used brown butter before but I've heard good things. I didn't find any recipes after an extensive google search so I just decided to make my own using about four different recipes and inspiration.

 And I'm not one to toot my own horn but my family said this was the best ice cream I've made all summer. Its a bit labor intensive but so worth it. Make sure you have someone to share this with. Or not.

Brown Butter & Cherry Ice Cream

• 1 stick of butter (8 tbsp)
• 1 lb of cherries, pitted
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup regular sugar
• 2 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5 egg yolks

1) Brown that butter! Cut your butter into pieces for more even melting, put into saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally and watch for butter to turn amber and have flecks on bottom of pan. Check out this simply recipes link for more detailed instructions. It took longer than I expected but oh boy is it worth it. Once it is browned, set aside and let it cool completely. (the picture is mid melt and it gets much darker)

2) While butter is browning or cooling, pit the cherries. If you have a cherry pitter, good for you. I don't so I just cut them in half and popped out the pit with my hands. After which it looked like I had murdered someone. See exhibit A. Now toss the cherries with the lemon juice and try not to eat all of them while you make the custard.

exhibit A:

3) Now mix the heavy cream, the butter and the brown sugar together. Put these in a saucepan over medium-low and heat until warm.

4) Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until well creamed, which may take a few minutes. Slowly drizzle the butter/milk mixture into the creamed eggs. This is done so you warm the eggs slowly instead of cooking them. Once it's all mixed put back into the sauce pan and stir slowly while warming the mixture until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon (your custard).

5) Once thickened, dump the cherries into the custard. I kind of smashed a few of the cherries while I stirred them in as well. Let this mixture sit for about ten minutes, or while you wash a few of the dishes.

6) Now blend the mixture in batches. If you have an immersion blender that also works. Once mixed/blended, strain the mixture into a bowl and cool for a few hours or over night.

7) Once cool turn into ice cream. I always like mine extra frozen so I leave mine in the freezer for a few hours after this as well.

Enjoy!