huckleberries are hard to come by
competing with bears after a long hilly hike
just ain't my thing
luckily
those whom are
"into it"
are willing to share
with one little caveat
my dealer
is 1200 miles away
traveling for a case of berries
now that is
my thing
huckleberries are a bit like blueberries
with more punch of flavor
sweet with a tinge of sour
no pucker
just enough to
wet your whistle
this gorgeous purple berry
cuts rich vanilla ice cream
perfectly
Huckleberry Ice Cream
(vanilla base recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
vanilla custard
1 cup whole milk
generous pinch kosher salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
7 large egg yolks
4 tsp good vanilla extract
huckleberry swirl
1 1/2 cups huckleberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs lemon juice
heat whole milk with 1/2 cup of sugar, and kosher salt. meanwhile whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. once milk comes to a simmer, slowly pour into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. quickly rinse the milk saucepan to remove any dried or burnt milk. transfer warm egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook on low heat, constantly stirring with a spatula. watch carefully, as to not overcook the eggs. cook and stir just until the mixture coats the spatula (consistency of a light crepe batter). remove from heat and run through a sieve into a clean bowl. stir in heavy cream and vanilla. place entire bowl into another bowl filled with ice and cool water. stir until it is cooled to room temperature. pour mixture into a covered container and refrigerate at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
make huckleberry swirl
in a small saucepan, place berries, sugar and lemon juice. cook until the berries throw off juice and all of the sugar has melted, then cook for about 10 minutes more..keep the heat low, you don't want to burn the sugars. mash the berries slightly (you will want some whole, some mashed). allow to cool and refrigerate until ready to freeze the ice cream.
when ready to freeze
place vanilla base into the bowl of your freezer. freeze according to manufacturer's directions. when your ice cream is finished...remove into your freezer container. as you scoop into your freezer container, layer with your huckleberry swirl. this will allow you to have a true swirl. if you put the huckleberry swirl into the mixer, it will completely mix in. continue to layer adding as much huckleberries and juice as you wish.
