Cherry & red wine ice cream

I made this a month ago now. I really should have blogged it before but at least it is getting done now. During the Christmas break I did some day trips. One of them involved going on a bit of a foodie tour around one of the regions nearby. There is a large amount of stone fruits available in the area. I bought nectarines, apricots and blood plums as well as 2.5 kg of cherries. I did a number of things with them including just eating a large amount of them. The first thing I did though was to make this cherry & red wine ice cream. 

I don't normally make custard based ice creams. I find them a bit rich for me. I tend to make a half cream/half milk ice cream. It is a bit harder and not quite as smooth but I like it. Not saying this wasn't good. It was fabulous but I found it very rich even when eating just a small amount. Make sure that you use a good wine as the flavour does come through. If you couldn't sit and drink the wine don't use it. Actually, that applies for all cooking, especially when they involve a large amount of wine. I bought a bottle of one of my favourite wines, Wolf Blass Silver Label Shiraz. Actually, my favourite Wolf Blass is the Grey Label but I while I was willing to sacrifice half a cup of the silver I am not willing to sacrifice half a cup of grey for anything. I haven't tried the black or platinum ranges, perhaps one day, at this stage the grey is at the top of my price range. 

This was an easy ice cream to make, most are really. It also let me use my Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment again. I haven't really used it a lot but it does make good ice cream and sorbet when I have used it. I am planning to try frozen yoghurt in it some time soon. The cherry flavour wasn't all that strong in this. I actually think that this would have been wonderful with some of the sweet strawberries that I had purchased while on my trip.

Cherry & red wine ice cream 

750 grams cherries, pitted
1/2 c caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp extra
125ml shiraz, (a good one)
2 star anise
1 1/2 c cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 c milk

Combine the cherries, sugar, wine and star anise in a pan over low heat stir to dissolve the sugar bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cover with a lid leave for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer until cherries are soft and liquid is syrupy approx. 15 minutes. Puree and strain. Cool.

Bring the cream just to a boil. Whisk egg yolks and extra sugar to combine, pour over the cream and return to a clean pan, on a low heat stir until the mix coats the back of a wooden spoon, make sure to keep stirring, it can easily turn to scrambled eggs if you take your eye off it. 

Strain through a fine sieve into cherry puree with milk and mix thoroughly. Cool and then churn in an ice cream machine.