Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Strawberries are my favorite fruit.  Just last week, Eric bought me an entire flat of strawberries.  They were incredibly cheap, and he knew I would be excited to have so many.

I was saddened to learn that the reason those strawberries were so cheap was because many Florida strawberry farmers are having to destroy their crops due to prices being so low at the market.  Because of the freeze in Florida this year, different varieties of strawberries all became available at the same time.  This caused an influx in the supply of strawberries, which drove the cost down.  Many farmers are finding it cheaper to destroy strawberries than to ship them to the market.

Since I haver an abundance of strawberries, I will be featuring strawberry recipes every day through Friday. The first one is this phenomenal ice cream, which calls for roasting the strawberries until caramelized.  The strawberry flavor becomes very intense, and the balsamic vinegar mixed with the juices of the strawberries turns into a sweet, tasty syrup.  This ice cream was creamy, with a wonderful strawberry flavor.  Plus, I just love the beautiful pink color!  It tastes great on its own, or topped with roasted pistachios or chocolate chips.

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, cleaned and hulled
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks

Directions:
-Toss the strawberries in the balsamic vinegar and sugar and let sit for 20 minutes.
-Preheat oven to 425º.
-Pour the mixture on a baking pan covered in foil folded up on the sides to capture the juices.
-Roast the strawberries until they start to caramelize, about 15-20 minutes.
-Place the strawberries and the juices into a container and chill in the refrigerator.
-Meanwhile, heat the cream, milk and sugar in a sauce pan over medium-high heat until it almost boils, about 5 minutes.
-Reduce the heat to low and whisk one tablespoon of the cream mixture into the eggs to temper them.
-Add the egg mixture to the sauce pan.
-Cook on low heat until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
-Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the custard to remove any to remove any pieces of cooked eggs that may have formed while cooking.
-Chill mixture in refrigerator until cold.
-Using the back of a fork, mash strawberries.  (This may not be necessary unless you have very large strawberries like I did.)
-Mix the cream and strawberry mixtures.
-Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream machine.
-Enjoy!

Serves 4

Source:  Closet Cooking