Hawthorn blossom and cherry ripple ice cream

This ice-cream perfectly captures the bitter almond flavour of hawthorn blossoms and balances it out with cream and sugar. It can be served by itself, perhaps with a little almond brittle sprinkled over the top if you want to be fancy, but it’s also delicious served alongside a dark chocolate brownie.

Pick blossoms that are newly opened and smell delicious for the best flavour. Cherries are not in season here in Ireland at the same time the blossoms are in the hedgerows, but I love the combination of almond and cherry so I use frozen cherries to make this ice cream.

Photo by Sharon Cosgrove

Serves 6

 For the ice cream
100g hawthorn blossom (ideally newly opened flowers)
500ml full fat milk
250ml double cream
5 egg yolks
150g caster sugar

For the ripple
500g fresh or frozen cherries, weighed once stoned
80g sugar
2 tablespoons water

Pick the flowers off the hawthorn into a large saucepan, it’s fine if there are little stalks left on the flowers, but you don’t want any woody bits or leaves. Pour the milk and cream over the blossoms and put on the hob on a low heat. Slowly bring the milk to a simmer, this should take about 15 minutes. Once the mixture is just simmering turn the heat off and leave to infuse for at least half an hour and up to a couple of hours. You can taste it to check the flavour, there will be a note of bitterness but don’t worry too much as it will be balanced out with the sugar.

Once the cream is infused line a sieve with a clean tea towel or piece of muslin and strain the milk and cream and blossom through the sieve into a large measuring jug. Give the muslin a good squeeze to make sure that you have extracted all the infused liquid and then discard the hawthorn blossom. Wash the saucepan and put the strained mixture back in over a medium heat and then bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks and sugar for a few minutes until they are pale and light in colour. You can do this is a stand mixer, with an electric whisk or with a hand whisk and lots of elbow grease.

 Slowly pour the hot cream mixture onto the egg yolk mixture whisking the whole time. Then strain the mixture back into a clean saucepan. Stir the mixture over a low heat, using a straight bottomed wooden spoon, until the custard thickens – you will know it is ready when you run your finger down the back of the spoon and it leaves a clear trail in the custard. It is important that the mixture doesn’t get too hot (it should not exceed 85°C) as at that temperature the egg will change texture, so proceed with a little caution. Allow the custard to cool and then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

 Meanwhile, stone the cherries or use already stoned frozen cherries. Put the cherries in a saucepan with the sugar and water. Heat over a low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Then turn the heat up to medium high and simmer for about 10 minutes until the fruit is thick and syrupy. Take the fruit off the heat and using a stick blender or a potato masher puree the fruit to a pulp and then push it through a sieve until you have a thick puree. Allow to cool.

Once the custard is cold pour into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen. Put a third of the churned ice cream into a container with a lid, drizzle over a quarter of the cherry sauce, then put another third of the ice cream on top and then another quarter of the cherry drizzle and then the final layer of ice cream. Use a blunt knife to swirl the layers of drizzle through the ice cream. Put it in the freezer for a couple of hours to fully freeze before serving.

To serve take the ice cream out of the freezer a few minutes before you want to scoop it. Serve the ice cream with a drizzle of the remaining cherry sauce.