Cherry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate

This recipe yields approximately two pints of ice cream. Make sure you freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker. Do this the night before if possible.

When ready to assemble… Begin by adding the milk and sugar to a mixing bowl, and mix with a whisk until all of the sugar dissolves. Add in the vanilla extract, a squirt of red food coloring, and the heavy cream. Assemble your ice cream maker, and turn it on, adding in your mixture. Let the mixer spin for at least 30 minutes, or according to manufacturer’s instructions.

As the ice cream begins to form into this delicious mass, typically about 25 minutes in, stop the bowl from spinning, and remove the inserted paddle, scraping down whatever ice cream has remained on the paddle.

Fold in the cherries and the chocolate. Place the ice cream in pint size containers if you have them, otherwise seal the top of the ice cream bowl, place it in the freezer and let it set up until you are ready to serve. But who am I kidding? Get a bowl out, dip a couple of scoops into it, drizzle some of the macerated cherry juice on it, letting it harden as a coating, and top with a macerated cherry.

Results? Delicious ice cream with tiny bits of cherry that not only add flavor, but also texture. The addition of the cherry juice on top adds a bit more great flavor, and really knocks this one out of the park. A family member was quoted as saying “I do not even like cherries that much, but this is really good!” My kids on the other hand, well . . . they weren’t big fans, and it was probably because they realized the tiny bits were cherries, and stopped at that point. At least they tried it, and heck, there was plenty left over for me! Hope you enjoy.