Crabapple Ice Cream Recipe

I’m not sure why apple ice cream isn’t a thing. But it isn’t, is it? I mean, have you ever seen it for sale? So if apple ice cream isn’t a thing, crabapple ice cream must seem like a real stretch. And yet, the tart fruit blends wonderfully with rich, sweet, cream. The flavor is unique and unbuyable. It should totally be a thing.

What You’ll Need to Make Crabapple Ice Cream

• 1 cup crabapple sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 egg yolks
• a pinch of salt

What You’ll Do to Make Crabapple Ice Cream

In a saucepan, combine the crabapple sauce, sugar, milk, and cream, whisk well, and bring the mixture to a simmer.

While the batter is heating, beat the egg yolks and salt in an electric mixer until they are light yellow. Pour a few tablespoons of the hot fruit and cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking the yolks constantly as you add the fruit. The slow introduction of hot liquid to egg yolks is called tempering. If you add the hot ingredients to the eggs all at once, you risk cooking the eggs, causing small bits of solid egg to form in the batter. This is not what I aim for in a smooth, rich ice cream.

Add the tempered yolks into the remainder of the fruit and cream, and whisk to combine thoroughly. Pour the batter into a container, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until it’s thoroughly cold, at least four or five hours or overnight.

Pour the batter into your ice cream maker and freeze as directed. Note: this is a thick ice cream batter, and it freezes more quickly than thinner batters.

Serve your crabapple ice cream when it’s still slightly soft, and top it with a drizzle of crabapple syrup.

Don’t tell me this isn’t a thing.