Caramelized Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream
You guys. This ice cream. I don’t even know where to start.
When I got Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, I knew I was going to be making this goat cheese ice cream. Obviously, I’m drawn to all things goat cheese.
After reviewing the recipe in more detail, it sounded a lot like the flavors in a classic cheesecake. So I decided to throw in some graham cracker chunks and increase the amount of roasted cherries.
Now when I set out to roast my cherries, I had a math mixup. I had enough cherries for 1.5x the recipe in the book, but instead of scaling the sugar appropriately, I tripled the amount of sugar. I seriously have no idea how that happened, but it did. In fact, I didn’t figure it out until a couple days later, after the sugary cherries bubbled over in my oven, burning to the bottom, and after I ran the clean cycle on our stove, which makes the house smell oh-so-lovely. As a result, my cherries were more caramelized than roasted and the sauce was extremely thick. I figured that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing and just went with it.
Hubby kept giving my glares when I told him the ice cream was going to be worth the hassle (and the smell). And then he tasted it. And all was forgiven. He officially proclaimed it was the best ice cream I’ve made (I know, he has said that before) and that I should only make this ice cream from now on (although he’d prefer me not to mess up my math and stink up the house). Spoiler alert, I have since made other ice cream recipes, but Hubby hasn’t claimed any of them as his favorite over this one.
With all that tanginess from the goat cheese, and the familiar graham cracker flavor, it really did taste like a cherry cheesecake in ice cream form. I can’t wait to make this again with other fruit flavors. I’m thinking blueberry or blackberry would be equally amazing.
Two Years Ago: Homemade Mayo and Blueberry Salsa over Grilled Mahi Mahi
Three Years Ago: Burger of the Gods
Four Years Ago: Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and Crockpot Roast Beef
Caramelized Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Yield: ~1 quart
Ingredients:
For the Roasted Cherries
3 cups pitted fresh or frozen (not thawed) red or black cherries
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
For the Ice Cream
2 cups whole milk (I used coconut milk)
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) fresh goat cheese
1 1/2 ounces (3 Tbsp) cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (I used coconut milk)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup graham cracker chunks (~6 crackers, crushed)
Directions:
For the Roasted Cherries
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Combine the cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a 9-inch square baking dish, tossing to mix. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until the juices are thickened and bubbly, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator.
For the Ice Cream
Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the goat cheese, cream cheese, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until completely cool, 4 hours or overnight.
Pour the ice cream base in to your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.
Pack the ice cream into a storage container, layering the ice cream base, graham cracker chunks, and cherries. Do not mix. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
Recipe adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
ooh, i am drooling thinking about this over melty brie!! fabulous 🙂
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
It’s definitely as good as it sounds.
what a lovely jam! there are still some peaches at the market and i need to make this asap.
Sounds wonderful! When do you add the liquid pectin and how long do you let it boil after you add it?
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
That sounds delicious, but when do we add the pectin, and can we use powdered pectin instead of the liquid one? Thank you so much…
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
I’m still new to canning, but I read in the Ball book that you can’t swap different kinds of pectin and should only use what the recipe calls for…
when do you add the pectin ??????
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
How long does this keep?
beantownbaker — September 28th, 2013 @ 8:36 pm
If you process the jars in a water bath, they will be fine on a shelf for up to a year. Once opened, you want to refrigerate it and it will keep for about a month in the fridge.
The number of cups of chopped peaches would be very helpful. Also, are the pectin pouches 3 or 6 oz?
The flavor was outstanding! However, it never fully set-up into a jelly. It was more of a jam/thick sauce – even after re-processing with a 2nd pack of pectin (I gave in and used the powder) On my other batches, I used 2 dry packs – and I’m not sure if those will even set correctly. 🙁
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
Sorry to hear this didn’t set up for you…
With sealed jars what is the shelf life of something like this?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
In general, I would try to open them within 6 months. I have kept jars of jam for up to a year without any problems.
This is my second year making this and i just wanted to tell you that it is outstanding. i’m sure others are wondering about yield — I got 9 half-pints from one batch. How long do you process this? I did 15 mins to err on the side of caution. Thanks!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:26 pm
I always process for 10 minutes.
Does this make the five half-pint jars shown or does it make more? Since everything sort of comes together at the end in canning (hot jam, sterilized jars, etc., and boiling water) I like to know ahead of time how many jars to prepare. Thanks.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:28 pm
It made 6 jars for me. It will depend how big your peaches are too.
With my jams, I usually use real lemon juice, but not in such large quantity,Did you use fresh or “jarred” lemon juice?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:29 pm
Yes, I use jarred lemon juice here.
According to “foodinjars.com” you can substitute 2 TBSP powdered pectin for 1 pouch of liquid pectin. 🙂 just thought I’d share that little tidbit! This recipe is FANTASTIC! Thanks Jen!
http://foodinjars.com/2013/07/canning-101-how-to-substitute-pectin/
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:30 pm
Thanks for sharing this!
I am looking forward to making this jam this evening!! I was seaching for a recipe for peach and jalapeno jam and this one caught my eye! Because you posted it my the day I was married, then reading your story and that you live in Cincy! I was born and raised north of that area!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Small world! I hope you enjoyed this jam.
This recipe should come with a warning label. I feel like I just made crack. I changed it up a bit and used cherries instead of peaches. I was having a hard time finding a cherry pepper recipe and had cherries in my freezer needing evicted and this one looked so good I used it as my baseline. THANK YOU for sharing it! If you are interested, it was a mix of sweet and tart cherries, and I added an extra jalapeno to a double batch. I just got done putting up nearly 11 pints of the stuff and am sitting here like a child licking the residue off my ladle it is that freaking good. Definitely recommend you try it with cherries some day if you like them. I am picking peaches this weekend and will definitely be making this as posted because I am sure it is divine. Ive been making jams and jellies since i was a child and this is the best one yet. Thank you again, can’t wait to try it properly with peaches!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:32 pm
Cherries! What a great change. I’m goign to have to try that out.
It would have been nice to know how many jars I would need to make this recipe!!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:33 pm
I got 6 jars. I’ll update the recipe to reflect the yield.
Oooooh. I am making this this weekend – thanks for a fantastic-looking recipe!
First time jam maker. Went to the farmer’s market this weekend and bought peaches and jalapenos (along with a bunch of other stuff). Thought I’d try my hand at making a jam/jelly because we love it on pork chops. This recipe was perfect. Thanks for sharing… and thank you to Google for popping it towards the top of the search list. Thank you Beantown Baker!
How long do you need to water bath can it??
Made this today – delicious but decidedly soupy. I thought maybe once it cooled it would set up more, but no.