One of the things I love about my house is the plethora of raspberry canes in the backyard. I really am not a very good gardener (and the cool northern summers don't help either) which is why I love raspberries. They thrive in our sandy soil and never need watering or fertilizing. Every year the canes provide hundreds and hundreds of raspberries, and we thank them for it. After making 12 jars of jam, I turned my attention to ice cream. The ripple here is actually an old-style jam; the kind people made before commercial pectin. Boiling the fruit activates the natural pectin and turns the sauce into jam. This is a pretty intense jam which does not freeze solid, which I think helps deliver more raspberry flavour.INGREDIENTS
- 1 recipe vanilla ice cream (cheaper version), made with 1/2 the vanilla
- 1 cup mashed raspberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
METHOD
1. Heat crushed raspberries in a saucepan over med-hi heat, until bubbling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pass though a very fine sieve, using the back of a spoon to mash the pulp and squeeze all the liquid out.
2. Place liquid back in the saucepan and add sugar. Heat to boiling over med-hi heat. Cook for 8-10 mins, stirring constantly. You want the mixture to thicken and coat the spoon you are stirring with. You will notice that the bubbles will begin to bubble within the mixture, rather than bubbling up the sides of the saucepan (if that makes sense). If you are a jam maker, the mixture should "sheet" off a cold spoon.
3. Cool mixture overnight in the fridge, covered.
4. When making the ice cream, drizzle raspberry mixture in for the final 3 churns, or so. You want the ice cream to be solidified before you add in the jam.
SIDE NOTE ON FREEZING FRUIT
Are you burdened with bushels of extra fruit this summer? More than you can possible eat? Freezing is a great idea and makes for a great addition to smoothies throughout the year. When freezing fruit, lay it out on a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer. When frozen, transfer to a container or bag. This way the fruit freezes as separate pieces (instead of one solid mass), making it easy to get just a few pieces out when you need them.
