Melon Cassis And French Vanilla Ice Cream With Blackberries Recipes

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together the yolks and half of the sugar.
• In a non-reactive saucepan combine the cream, 1 cup of the milk, the remaining sugar, and the salt.
• Split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise, to expose the tar-like seeds inside the pod. Scrape the seeds loose with a knife; add the bean and the seeds to the cream mixture.
• Heat the cream over medium-high heat until just at a boil. Remove from the heat. Gradually pour the hot liquid into the yolks, while whisking constantly. Return the cream-egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring the mixture constantly, with a wooden spoon in a figure-8 motion, until thickened, about 10 minutes. When the ice cream mixture is properly cooked it should coat the back of a spoon, be satiny thick, and be free of any bubbles on the surface. (If you taste the ice cream base it should have a slight egg-y taste.) When thickened, pour in the reserved milk to prevent the mixture from overcooking. Strain into a medium bowl. Add the cognac if desired.
• Fill another bowl with ice. Set the bowl of ice cream base in the ice and stir until thoroughly chilled. Freeze the base in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Take care not to over churn the ice cream or it will get a grainy texture.) Transfer the ice cream to the freezer to set up for at least 1 hour. Serve.

CASSIS-SPLASHED MELON WITH FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM & BLACKB

Steps:

• Cut off a sliver of each melon wedge bottom, so that they will sit nicely on a plate.
• Pour 2 tablespoons of cassis liqueur or syrup across each melon wedge.
• Scoop 1 ball of ice cream onto each wedge of melon.
• Garnish each with blackberries and serve.
• Simple as that!

MANGO, BLACKBERRY CASSIS, AND VANILLA MOSAIC

Steps:

• Put sorbet and ice cream in refrigerator until evenly softened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, purée blackberries, sugar, and cassis in a blender until smooth, then strain thourough a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Freeze to thicken slightly until ice cream is ready, 20 to 40 minutes, then stir until smooth.
• Lightly oil loaf pan, then cut a piece of parchment to fit bottom and long sides of pan, leaving at least 3 inches of overhang on each side.
• Fill pan decoratively with spoonfuls of sorbet and ice cream, pressing down and filling empty spaces with blackberry purée as you go. Smooth top, pressing down with back of spoon to eliminutesate air spaces, then fold parchment flaps over top and freeze until solid, at least 3 hours.
• To unmold, run a thin knife along short sides of pan to loosen mosaic, then open parchment and invert onto a flat serving dish, discarding parchment.
• Cut mosaic into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
• Cooks' note: Mosaic can be made 5 days ahead and frozen, covered with plastic wrap.
• Makes 10 to 12 servings.