Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I recently acquired a springform pan from Unique, but I’m still working on making a for-real cheesecake. So, while we all wait, here’s this.

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

For the Custard Ice Cream Base
2 cups half & half
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar (just under a cup, actually), divided
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

For the Raspberry Swirl
3/4 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

For the Crust Swirl
2 tablespoons butter
4 graham crackers, finely crushed

First Make the Custard:
In a medium saucepan placed over medium low heat, warm 2 cups of half & half, just under a half cup of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Just as bubbles begin to come up from the bottom of the pot, remove it from the heat. In a large bowl, whisk 5 egg yolks with just under a half cup of sugar until the yolks thicken and are creamy and pale yellow.
Temper the egg yolks into the warm cream mixture: While continually whisking the egg yolk mixture, slowly dribble in about a cup of the hot half & half mixture. Return the remaining half & half mixture to the stove, this time over very low heat. Start whisking the half & half and slowly drizzle in the yolk mixture. You’ve tempered!
Continue to warm the mixture over low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and, if you’re feeling ambitious, pour it through a fine meshed sieve (You could skip that step if you wanted. It’s just to ensure you don’t have any curdled bits sneaking into your final custard). Whisk in 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, 1/2 heavy cream, and 6 ounces softened cream cheese. Cover the ice cream base and chill it in the refrigerator at least four hours or overnight.

To Make the Berry Swirl:
Defrost 3/4 cup of frozen berries. Use a blender, immersion blender, food processor, or, if you’re in a bind, a fork, to pulverize the berries. Press them through a fine sieve. In a small saucepan, add the berry puree, sugar, and cornstarch and heat over low. Whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens slightly. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the mixture cools slightly, just a minute or two. Place the berry mixture in a bowl to cool in the refrigerator where it will continue to thicken.

To Make the Graham Cracker Crust Swirl:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat until the butter foams and then subsides. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can keep cooking the butter until it turns a medium brown and smells nutty. Finely crumble 3 whole (large rectangles, not squares) graham crackers into the butter (I used my hands for this, but you can pulse them in a food processor or bang on them with a rolling pin). Thoroughly mix them into the melted butter. Toast the buttery crumbs for about a minute over medium heat. Remove from heat and spread them on a plate to cool to room temp, then chill them in the refrigerator.

To Assemble:
Freeze the ice cream according to the directions on your machine. After it’s done churning in the machine, place about a fourth of it into the container you want to freeze it in. Then drizzle a third of the berry mixture over the ice cream. Over that, sprinkle on a third of the graham cracker crumbs. Continue with the next fourth of the ice cream, then the berry mixture, crumbs, etc. End your layers with the final fourth of ice cream. Place in the freezer until solid, at least 4 hours. Enjoy.

layering in progress

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