Rhubarb and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Or what I would serve to fairies if they came to my house for tea

Ice cream is one of my favorite things to make. I get an immense amount of joy from making, and then eating, homemade ice cream. Nothing else really compares, especially when you eat it with a spoon fresh out of the churn, not yet completely frozen.

Rhubarb and vanilla is one of my favorite ice creams, and one of my favorite ways to serve rhubarb. The tartness that is characteristic of rhubarb is perfectly tamed by the smooth creamy base, it is rich and yet delicate and altogether just delightful. If you are lucky to get bright pink rhubarb, the ice cream will take on a lovely soft pink. This is one of the few recipes I splurge and use a vanilla bean (or good quality vanilla bean paste) rather than a good extract, it really makes a difference to the flavour.

This recipes uses the poached rhubarb I published a little while ago, and really the only important thing to note is that you need to strain all of the syrup from it and make sure the rhubarb is COLD. If you don’t do this, it will melt the ice cream when you add it, giving it icicles when it re-freezes, so put it back in the fridge before churning (I remembered this important tip AFTER I made my ice cream the other day and so my photos reflect a slightly less than perfectly creamy product!) Likewise, the custard should be very cold before you churn it to give it the best chance of having a smooth texture. I always try to make the custard the day before I churn the ice cream.

I use a cheap little cuisinart ice cream maker, the one where you freeze the bowl that the ice cream is churned in, and it does a very nice job, so don’t feel that you need a fancy machine to make great ice cream.

As with all ice cream coming from the freezer, remove it from the freezer 10 minutes before serving or eating it, it will taste and feel much better.