Maple Fig Ice Cream Recipes

FIG ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Soak figs in a bowl of water until softened, 3 to 4 hours. Drain figs and chop.
• Combine chopped figs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until until sugar is dissolved and figs begin to break down, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool to room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes. Cover saucepan with a lid and refrigerate.
• Heat half-and-half in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not boiling, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
• Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, and salt together in a bowl until smooth. Temper egg mixture by drizzling 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half into egg mixture, while continuously whisking egg mixture until slightly warmed. Pour egg mixture into half-and-half and return saucepan to medium-low heat; cook, whisking constantly, until custard is smooth and thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Place saucepan with custard in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally, until chilled, about 30 minutes. Stir sour cream and vanilla extract into chilled custard. Cover saucepan and chill custard completely, at least 3 hours.
• Process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir fig mixture into ice cream in the last 5 minutes of processing. Transfer fig ice cream to a container and freeze until solid.

MAPLE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Whisk 1/2 cup maple syrup and egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Stir remaining maple syrup, half-and-half, cream, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring often, until simmering. Reduce heat to medium.
• Add about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture. Whisk constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Repeat with another 1/2 cup of the cream mixture. Pour egg mixture into the saucepan, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Cook, stirring constantly, until custard thickens and coats the back of the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
• Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a clean bowl. Whisk in vanilla extract. Set the bowl in an ice bath and stir the custard occasionally until cooled to room temperature, 15 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the bowl from the ice bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours, or overnight.
• Churn cold custard in an ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's instructions, until it reaches the consistency of soft serve. Serve right away or cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

CHUCK'S MAPLE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream and salt to a simmer.
• In a bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and egg yolks. Pour about one-third of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, and then stir the egg yolk mixture into the remaining cream in the saucepan. Stir to blend well. Lower the heat to medium-low and stir constantly until hot and slightly thickened. Do not boil.
• Pour through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Cover and chill thoroughly.
• Freeze in your ice cream machine following manufacturer's directions. Add the maple flakes.

FRESH-FIG AND CHOCOLATE-CHUNK ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Chill a loaf pan in freezer at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle figs with sugar and toss to coat; let stand until juicy, about 5 minutes.
• Fold figs and chocolate into custard base with a rubber spatula. Freeze and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions, then transfer to pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until hardened, at least 2 hours; ice cream can be frozen up to 2 weeks ahead.