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Homemade rhubarb ice cream – the perfect summer treat
The weather is starting to warm up, so it’s time for ice cream! Ice cream is easily one of our favorite desserts of all time, especially in the spring and summer. There’s just nothing that really compares to a fresh and cold sweet treat on a warm summer evening. We haven’t shared many ice cream recipes on the blog, but we’re determined to change that this summer. We do have a cardamom ice cream that is absolutely delicious, and an ice cream cake that was our first foray into ice cream recipes! And in thinking of our favorite flavors at this time of year, rhubarb immediately came to mind, and this rhubarb ice cream recipe was created.
Rhubarb and vanilla are the ideal flavor combo
There’s no doubt that rhubarb and vanilla are classic flavors that go perfectly together. Whether you’re thinking of a rhubarb and custard sweet, which is common in the UK, or just vanilla-scented rhubarb jam or compote, the flavors complement each other so well. The rhubarb is tart and sometimes a little bit floral, while the vanilla provides a sweeter and creamier flavor. With this ice cream recipe, you also get a bit of a textural difference between the compote and the vanilla custard. You could even keep the rhubarb chunkier to get bits of frozen rhubarb throughout the smooth and creamy custard base!
Why a rhubarb swirl?
The reason we chose to turn this into a rhubarb swirl ice cream rather than a fully rhubarb ice cream is because of the textures. The custard base creates a creamy ice cream rather than an icy one, but mixing the rhubarb compote into that before churning and freezing it could create an icier texture. By swirling the compote into the custard after churning, and layering them together, you ensure a creamy texture and bit of punchy rhubarb flavor swirled throughout. Delicious!
A fresh and summery treat
This rhubarb ice cream is delicious on its own, but you could also enjoy it with a range of different desserts. One that comes to mind immediately is our rhubarb cake recipe – actually, the most popular recipe on our blog right now! A warm slice of that cake combined with a scoop of this ice cream is possibly the most perfect rhubarb dessert you’ll ever have. And if you’re on the lookout for other rhubarb recipes to enjoy this spring and summer, check out this blog post from last year.
Ingredients and equipment you’ll need
We make our ice cream in an ice cream machine, which makes the whole process a lot easier. Nowadays, you can also get stand mixer attachments that help you churn the ice cream, and that works perfectly for our ice cream recipes. If you don’t have a machine, though, we would recommend following a slightly different method to make the ice cream, and you might end up with a less creamy final product.
Other ingredients you’ll need for this recipe include: eggs, heavy cream, milk, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla bean paste for the custard base. For the rhubarb compote, you’ll need rhubarb, granulated sugar, and salt. You can obviously replace the rhubarb compote with another fruit compote or jam, and for that reason, this recipe is a really useful one to have on hand at any time in the year when you have extra fruit and want to make some delicious ice cream. The vanilla custard base also lends itself well to any mix-ins you might want to add, like cookies, chocolate sauce, or other flavorings.
How to make our rhubarb ice cream
If you’re using an ice cream machine, you’ll want to make sure you freeze the cooling bowl ahead of time for at least 12 hours before you need to churn the ice cream. The compote and the custard can then both be made ahead of time and should be fully cooled when you’re ready to churn the ice cream.
For the compote, cook down the ingredients until the sugar has dissolved, a lot of the liquid has boiled off, and it’s a nice and thick consistency. Let that cool in the fridge. For the custard, mix the heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Mix the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl. You’ll then gently heat up the milk mixture until it starts to form bubbles around the edges, and pour half of it into the egg mixture to temper it. Pour the entire egg mixture into the pan, and heat it up until it reaches a consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Let that cool in the fridge as well.
If you aren’t using a machine, the best thing to do here is to place the custard into the freezer. Stir it every 30 or so minutes to replace the churning you would do with a machine, until it’s nice and thick and creamy. At this point, you can mix in the compote and let the ice cream fully freeze before scooping it. If you’re using a machine, follow the machine instructions to churn the custard, and then layer that into a container with the compote. We really hope you give this recipe a try – it’s so perfect for the spring and summer!
Rhubarb Swirl Ice Cream
A perfectly balanced sweet treat with pockets of tart rhubarb compote and creamy vanilla custard ice cream, perfect for spring and summer!
Ingredients
CUSTARD:
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 360 ml heavy cream
- 240 ml milk
- 175 grams granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (if you don't have vanilla bean paste, you can use 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract instead)
RHUBARB COMPOTE
- 400 grams rhubarb
- 175 grams granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- If using an ice cream machine, make sure you are following the machine instructions and freezing the cooling bowl for at least 12 hours before preparing your ice cream! The bowl has to be completely frozen for the ice cream to properly churn.
- Start by making the rhubarb compote. This has to cool down in the fridge completely, so it's best to make this at least a few hours ahead of churning the ice cream.
- To make the rhubarb compote: Add chopped rhubarb, sugar and a pinch of salt to a pot on the stove. Heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Stir and lower the heat to medium/low; continue to stir often so it doesn't burn.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes until the compote has thickened a lot – it's best to cook out as much liquid as possible to avoid too many ice crystals in the final product. You can experiment with adding more sugar, stabilizers, liquid glucose, or other ingredients that could help the compote become less icy, but we wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible.
- Transfer the compote to a container and cool for about 15 minutes at room temperature – then transfer to the fridge to cool completely.
- Now it's time to make the custard. This also should be done a few hours ahead of churning the ice cream! Mix heavy cream, milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan.
- Whisk egg yolks and the whole egg and vanilla paste together in a separate heatproof bowl.
- Heat up the milk & cream mixture until you see small bubbles forming along the edge. Make sure not to overheat! We recommend keeping this on low/medium-low heat.
- Slowly stream half of the milk mixture into the eggs to temper the eggs, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture, still whisking. Heat this over medium to low heat until it for a few minutes, whisking the whole time to avoid scrambling the eggs.
- Once the mixture coats the back of a spoon and you can run a finger across the spoon and it leaves a trail, the custard is thickened, and it's ready. You can also check the temperature of the custard – once it reaches 170 degrees F (76 C), it is ready! Try not to overheat the mixture as it could scramble the eggs and make for a strange texture.
- Strain the custard into a bowl. We like to strain it just in case there are any lumps!
- Cover with plastic wrap that touches the surface of the custard to avoid a skin forming, and refrigerate until cold. It's very important that it's fridge-cold, so that it doesn't thaw out the ice cream bowl too quickly.
- When the custard is totally cooled down (fridge temperature!), start your ice cream machine and add the custard mixture to the cooling bowl (follow your machine instructions).
- Our ice cream takes about 25-30 minutes to churn to soft-serve consistency, which is what our machine instructions indicate.
- Get a freezer-safe container ready (we use a container with 6 cup/1.4 liter capacity, and it fits perfectly!)
- Remove your cooled compote from the fridge.
- Add about half of the soft serve custard to the bottom of the container; then add half of the compote on top of that.
- Add the rest of the custard, then the rest of the compote.
- Use a knife to swirl the compote into the custard, mixing as much as you would like to – the more you mix, the less defined ribbons of rhubarb there will be.
- Transfer to the freezer.
- Let the ice cream harden for at least another couple of hours before scooping – best if left overnight, but we totally understand not waiting that long. Enjoy!
Tip: if you're in a rush or the custard and/or compote aren't fully cooled by the time you'd like to churn the ice cream, you can add ice to a large bowl with some water, place a smaller bowl in the ice water, and add custard or compote to the smaller bowl. Leave for a few minutes, then stir well, and continue to stir every few minutes until the custard or compote has cooled down fully.
