Cocoa Butter: Cherries and Valentines Day

With Valentine's Day right around the corner [tomorrow], there are a ton of chocolate/cherry recipes circulating around. Now, personally I am really not a chocolate/cherry fan. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE chocolate and I also love cherries, but for some reason, the combination doesn't do anything for me. This could go back to my hatred towards cherry cordials [I am not a fan of biting into something expecting a solid, and having cherry squirt everywhere] and ever since my first experience, I think the aversion has stuck. But, since it is such a classic Valentine's Day pairing, I decided to work out my own cherry featured dessert sans chocolate - yes, odd since this is a chocolate blog...but delicious nonetheless. Today we are going to finally work with the third and final CUSTARD! We previously discussed boiled custards with pomegranate pudding and we also touched on baked custards with both pomegranate tartlets and pumpkin creme brulee. Today we are making a stirred custard...let's have a quick recap on the difference between the three...

A STIRRED CUSTARD means that you cook the custard on the stove, and cook it, but do NOT bring it to a final boil. [example: creme anglaise/vanilla sauce/ice cream base]
A BOILED CUSTARD is exactly that....boiled on the stove [example: pastry cream/pudding]
A BAKED CUSTARD, again, is just what it says...put it in the oven! [example: creme brulee, creme caramel, cheesecake, quiche-yes! custards can be savory too!]

alright, now that we are all back on the same page we are going to make

Sour Cream Ice Cream with a Warm Cherry Compote

Sour Cream Ice Cream Base:

Sour Cream: 8oz

Whole Milk: 8oz

Sugar: 4 oz

Egg Yolks: 4 oz

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring your sour cream, milk, and half the sugar to a boil.

2. while those ingredients are heating up, whisk together your yolks and the remaining sugar

3. whisk about half of your boiling liquids into the yolk mixture [DO NOT STOP WHISKING]

4. over medium heat, pour the yolk mixture back into the remaining liquids and stir continuously. do not allow this mixture to come to a boil. you want it to thicken slightly. To be precise, use a thermometer. You want to bring this mixture to 165 F, which is referred to as "nappe". another way to test this is to dip a spoon into the mixture and holding it upright, run your finger in a line through the sauce. If the sauce stays separated then you are at nappe. If the sauce simply leaks back together then you need to continue cooking the sauce.

5. once the sauce is finished, pour it into a bowl and allow it to cool completely in the fridge

...meanwhile, we will make the compote...

Cherry Compote

Cherries [pitted]: 5oz

Cranberry Juice: 4 oz

Lime Juice: 1 Tbsp

Red Wine: 2 Tbsp

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Once boiling, turn the heat down and allow to simmer until reduced by more than half. this will take between 6-10 minutes. you want a tangy/sweet and very thick reduction. there will be very little liquid left in the pan.

3. - OPTIONAL STEP - if you want a smoother sauce, you can puree this up and make a liquid fruit sauce. i kept the cherries in chunks and went with a compote instead

Now, churn your ice cream [follow directions on your ice cream machine]...... freeze for a few hours after churning to let the ice cream set up, then reheat your cherries, scoop some ice cream and top it off!

enjoy!