Homemade ice cream, frozen yogurt + sorbet

[happy atheist]

So no fig ice cream for me. :cry:

[lilith]

There is nothing like good fresh fig on a good cheese platter. Yum.

[RachelB]

So no fig ice cream for me. :cry:

All is not lost!

The first step in David Liebovitz's fig ice cream recipe amounts to "cut the figs into pieces and cook them with [too much] sugar until they are jam-like in texture." I think if you find a fig jam you like, you could blend the heck out of it, mix it with cream and a little lemon, and wind up with a very similar result. You'd need to figure out how much jam to use, but that's a solvable problem-- according to the handful of jam recipes I've read online, the 2 lbs. of fresh figs used for a single batch (we made a double) would reduce to between 2 and 3 c. of jam.

[sparkles]

I got about 3 cups of fig jam from DL's recipe and I thought it was way too much.

I did find another recipe that I'm going to try, it's a bit more on the savory side so that appeals to me much more than the overly sweet DL yuck-fest.

Fig Balsamic Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

For the ice cream base:

2 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

8 egg yolks

1-1/4 cups sugar

4 ounces mascarpone cheese

Pinch of salt

For balsamic candied figs:

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

8 ounces dried figs, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Make the ice cream base: In a large saucepan over high heat, combine milk, cream, and 3/4 cup sugar. In a separate bowl, quickly beat yolks and the remaining 3/4 cup sugar until a smooth, heavy, pale yellow mix is established. Bring milk, cream, and sugar mixture to a boil; gradually add the mixture to the egg and sugar mix, whisking constantly until well blended to make ice cream base.

Return the empty saucepan to heat and, while whisking, stream the ice cream base back into to the saucepan again, stirring constantly. Turn the heat to low, and continue stirring until the mix reaches 165ºF and has thickened slightly. Pour into a clean container, and chill immediately to 32ºF. After 12 to 24 hours, hand blend mascarpone and salt into ice cream base.

Make the balsamic glazed figs: In a sturdy saucepan, combine balsamic vinegar and sugar; bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add dried figs, then reduce the heat to low, and cook figs in the syrup until syrup reduces and just covers the figs. Chill well; reserve until ready to stir into the ice cream.

Freeze mascarpone ice cream base in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

Swirl figs into ice cream: Just before you remove ice cream from ice cream machine, incorporate figs into ice cream by very gently stirring in the fig glaze, alternating pouring in ice cream and fig glaze. Freeze for at least an hour before serving.

[happy atheist]

I happen to have a jar of Fig & Honey Conserve in my pantry right now. As I recall, it's bit lumpy. I'd have to blend it. But the honey that's already in it probably makes it sweet enough for this application. I might need to give it a try once we finish off the Lemon-Ginger Froyo.