Beetiful Ice Cream

One of my all time favorites: the beet.  Red, pink, striped, golden - I adore them all!  Beets are seriously addicting, and once I cook them, they don't stick around for long.  My favorite way to prepare beets is just cut into wedges, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, roasted in the oven, and then drizzled with fresh orange juice.  I also always cook the beet greens because they are fabulous!

It's not just the taste of beets that makes them so fantastic; it's also their whimsical colors, especially the deep pinky-redness of the red beets.  People often think of beets in savory preparations, but they are also quite wonderful in desserts because of their natural sweetness.  My friend's mom once referred to the beet as nature's candy.  I agree!  So last summer I made beet cupcakes.  The cake and the frosting both had beet puree in them, so they came out in wonderful shades of pink!  I knew I wanted to go the dessert route with beets again...but in what direction exactly would I go?

I have long used The Perfect Scoop recipes for my ice cream creations, but I found a new book at the library a few months ago: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  I was intrigued by the unique ice cream flavor combinations as well as the composition of her ice cream base.  The previous batches of ice cream I had made usually contained milk, cream, and egg yolks.  These recipes, however, were based on milk, cream, mascarpone or cream cheese, cornstarch, and light corn syrup.  I was curious to see if the end product would be just as creamy and decadent as an ice cream made with egg yolks.

To my delight, Jeni had a recipe for Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone, Orange Zest, and Poppy Seeds.  I eagerly went to work!  The end result was amazing.  The most gorgeous deep pink with an excellent orange taste - almost like an orange creamsicle - and a delightful little crunch from the poppy seeds.  You can't really taste the beets, but they do impart the unique color of this ice cream.  It was very smooth and easily scooped from the container, which is always a plus!

Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone, Orange Zest, and Poppy Seeds

Recipe (slightly adapted and halved) from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

Ingredients:

• two small beets
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 oz mascarpone
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup
• zest of half an orange, peeled in large strips using a veggie peeler (I used an organic Valencia orange, the zest of which has a very sweet flavor)
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Roast your beets according to your favorite method: I wrapped them in tin foil and cooked them in the oven (while I had something else baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit) for about an hour until they were soft when poked with a fork.
2. Cool the beets slightly then peel them.  Cut the beets into chunks and puree in a food processor (I used my mini prep!).  Force the puree through a sieve.
3. Measure out  a heaping 1/4 cup of warm beet puree and then mix this with the 1 tbsp of sugar.  Set aside to cool.
4. Mix 1 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. 
5. Whisk the mascarpone, beet puree, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
6. Combine the remaining milk, cream, 1/3 cup sugar, corn syrup, and orange zest in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring very often.  Boil for 4 minutes, stirring very often.
7. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
8. Bring mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a spatula, until slightly thickened.  This should take about a minute.  You'll know you have the right thickness when you insert a wooden spoon into the mixture and the mixture coats the back of the spoon; if you run your finger down the spoon, the mixture should leave a definite path rather than flowing in.  Remove from the heat.
9. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the mascarpone mixture until smooth.
10. Place the bowl into an ice bath (or if you have no ice, like me, into a cold water bath...you may just have to refresh the cold water once or twice after it absorbs heat from the mixture).  Let stand, stirring occasionally until cool. 
11. Place the mixture in the fridge for a few hours until it's super cold.
12. When ready to freeze, remove the orange zest and poor the ice cream into the frozen canister of your ice cream machine.  Add the poppy seeds and spin until thick (about 20 minutes for my machine).
13. Pack the ice cream into a freezer storage container (might I suggest a Frigoverre), press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, put on the lip, and freeze until completely firm.
14. Enjoy!

A cone does wonders to one's ice cream just as stilettos do wonders to one's legs!

Savoring every...

...last bite.

Uh oh!  All gone!