This smooth cherry vanilla ice cream is made from fresh cherries. You’ll never want to buy the store kind again!
I love ice cream. But you guys already knew that. I make it no matter the weather and during every season of the year. One of the best ice creameries is a place called Woodside Farm Creamery. It’s family-owned and not too far from my dad’s house in Delaware.
What’s amazing about this place is that the farm has been running for 100+ years. Shortly after I left for college, the family decided to make ice cream and open up a little shop. The cows that provide the cream for the ice cream are only a few feet away. That’s what I call fresh!
We’ve been going to Woodside since it opened, and we all have our favorite flavors. When my family and I went to visit my dad a few weeks ago, we made it a point to stop by for ice cream… twice. Because of the governor’s restrictions, Woodside was only able to open as a drive-through. My husband placed an order for their cherry vanilla ice cream and got… plain vanilla.
Yes, he was disappointed, but he said the vanilla ice cream was still good. Since I couldn’t stand the thought of him not eating cherry vanilla ice cream, I decided to make him some once we returned home. We bought fresh cherries and used it in this ice cream.
I absolutely loved how creamy this ice cream was. It creates a LOT of cherry sauce that you can keep and drizzle on ice creams, cakes, brownies, toast, and anything else you like to eat. My husband, however, said that he didn’t like the base as much and would have preferred the ice cream base from Ample Hills. I’ll have to try that next time.
If you ever find yourself in Delaware, please make it a point to stop by Woodside. You’ll be supporting a local family business and eating some AWESOME ice cream!
Husband’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 5 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Cherry vanilla ice cream
Ingredients
Cherry syrup
- 2 and ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 and ½ cups water
- 2 cups cherries pitted and cut in half
Ice cream base
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 and ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 and ½ cups whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cherry syrup
- In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, boil the sugar, water and cherries together. Reduce the heat so the mixture simmers and cook for about 5 minutes or until the cherries are nice and soft.
- Turn the stove off, and allow the cherries to cool to room temperature. Leave the cherries in the saucepan while it cools.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a medium sized bowl and pour the cherries into the sieve. Save the cherries in a small container and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- The remaining cherry syrup can be reduced (back into the same saucepan set over medium heat - allow it to boil and then simmer for another ~10 minutes). Once the sauce reduces by about half, allow it to cool to room temperature and then transfer to heat-safe containers. Chill in the refrigerator and use it to top ice cream, brownies, cakes, or eat with a spoon.
Make the ice cream base
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, mix together the sugar, heavy cream, milk and salt together. Stir until the mixture slowly starts to steam (but does not boil).
- Place the egg yolks in a small bowl. Once the milk mixture steams, pour about ½ cup of it into the egg yolks and whisk vigorously. Then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the large saucepan with the milk mixture. Keep whisking so the eggs don't scramble.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a large heatproof bowl. Pour the custard into the mesh sieve so you strain out any cooked egg bits - discard this. Add the vanilla into the custard and mix well. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- Churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. When ready to assemble, place a layer of ice cream in a container. Top with the reserved cherries. If desired, drizzle on the cherry syrup or even some chocolate syrup. Repeat.
- Allow the ice cream to cool at least 8 hours before serving.
Notes