Berry Ribbon Ice-cream

 

Last week, while waiting for my food cart order from King Burrito on N. Mississippi Ave, I noticed these dusty blue berries growing at the edge of the neighboring parking lot. My co-worker told me they were Oregon grapes, which I confirmed with my handy-dandy plant app, Seek. I tried one, and it is very sour, with three seeds in that one little berry. I couldn't help thinking there is probably something I could make with these that would be delicious. Since is had been a hot August, I have been making a lot of ice-cream. I happened to have some paper in my purse, so I quickly made myself a to-go box, and picked a large handful of those Oregon grapes to take home to my test kitchen.

What seemed like a treasure trove at the food cart, turned out to be about 4 tablespoons of Oregon grapes. I was thinking I would need about a 1/2 cup of jam for an ice-cream ribbon, so I would need more berries! I don't actually know any other place where I could get Oregon grapes, so I turned for help to my trusty backyard. Turns out I still had about 4 tablespoons of blueberries on my scraggly bush. It was getting dark, but using my phone's flashlight I was able to also pick about 3 tablespoons of huckleberries. This recipe is what I did from there.

For the jelly:

4 Tablespoons Oregon grapes

4 Tablespoons blueberries

3 Tablespoons huckleberries

4-5 drops fresh lemon juice

3 g pectin 

     (I used pink box Sure Jell)

3 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons water

Crush the berries in a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Simmer one minute. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth. Squeeze to get as much juice as possible. Makes about 1/4 cup of juice. Stir in the drops of lemon juice.

In the same pan (I didn't even wash it out, but you can if you want), combine the pectin, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil and boil one minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the prepared juice, and stir until smooth and thick. transfer to a clean small jar or dish, and refrigerate until cold. (I left it over night, and made the ice-cream in the morning.)

For the ice-cream:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons dry milk powder

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 1/3 cups whole milk

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

Combine the sugar, dry milk, and xanthan gum in  a small bowl and stir well. Pour the corn syrup into a medium pot and stir in the whole milk. Add the sugar mixture and immediately whisk vigorously until smooth. Set the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat if necessary to prevent a simmer, until the sugar has fully dissolve, about 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the cream and whisk until fully combined. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours, or for even better texture and flavor, 24 hours. Stir the base back together if it separates during resting time. The base can be further stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Just be sure to fully thaw the frozen base before using it.)

In the morning, I added 1 teaspoon vanilla and churned the mixture in my ice-cream maker for about a half and hour, until it was well expanded and very thick. I spooned half of this into an airtight container, spread the jam all over the top of it to make a ribbon layer, and spooned the remaining ice-cream on top. When it's all frozen, you can scoop it out and there will be a ribbon of berry deliciousness running right through it!

Note: I have been doing a lot of Salt & Straw ice-cream recipes since I got the book for my birthday. So I had the ice-cream base already in my fridge. I only needed to add the vanilla and churn! You can make any kind of ice-cream for this. You could even use store bought ice cream and make a ripple by layering with jam in a container and re-freezing.