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.