FRUIT ICE CREAMS

SUMMER IS THE BEST TIME FOR MAKING ICE cream, and with so many fruits in season, the combination is a natural. However, using fresh fruits to flavor ice cream presents challenges for the home cook.

Most fruits contain a high percentage of water, which can make ice creams icy. We found that fruit ice creams will never be as silky or creamy as ice creams flavored with vanilla beans or instant espresso powder. The addition of the fruit itself as well as the additional liquid are antithetical to creaminess.

While we would never argue for the use of artificial fruit flavors (the solution employed by many commercial ice cream manufacturers), we do think some extra steps are necessary when working with fresh fruits.

For instance, we like to strain out the seeds and fibers in raspberries, blackberries, and bananas because they can detract from the texture of ice cream. Pushing these fruits through a fine-mesh strainer results in a smooth puree that captures their flavors but does not contain annoying seeds or strings.

Other fruits, such as peaches and cherries, are so juicy (i.e., watery) that we find it best to sauté them with a little sugar to drive off some of their moisture. This process also caramelizes some of the natural sugars in the fruit and makes the fruit flavor more intense. We find that adding these fruit mixtures at the end of churning maximizes creaminess and keeps the fruit flavors fresh and intense.

Despite the additional sweetness provided by the fruit, we discovered that keeping the sugar at the same level as in the Master Recipe (three-quarters cup per quart of ice cream) helps promote smoothness and also intensifies the fruit flavors. In some recipes, we have increased the sugar slightly to offset tartness in the fruit (as with raspberries and blackberries) or excessive moisture (as with cherries).

The ice cream recipes that follow capture the essence of each fruit while maintaining as much creaminess and silkiness as possible.