Red, White, and Blue Ice Cream

So Nancy tried to pretend that she made the red, white, and blue ice cream for our family 4th of July festivities, but, actually, it was me. She made the cute cookies, I made the cute ice cream. So I'm stealing her picture of it to post here, and recipe's are below. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. Think of it like Neapolitan ice cream, but red, white, and blue instead of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. And I found the templates for the flags here. Enjoy!

To keep it separated in the pan, I made the red and the blue first, with a bread pan where the white went to hold the sides up, then put that all in the freezer so it could set up. Once it was hardened, I took the bread pan out, and put the white ice cream in it's place.

Fruit Ice Cream Base (make 2 batches, one for the strawberry rhubarb, and one for the blueberry)

Ingredients:

6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 pinch salt

2-3 cups fruit puree

In a medium bowl lightly whisk the yolks together with a 1/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside.
In a non-reactive saucepan combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of the cream, and the salt. Heat the cream mixture over medium-high heat until just boiling. Remove from the heat; whisk the eggs constantly while gradually pouring the hot liquid into the yolks. Return the egg mixture to the saucepan.
Cook the mixture while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure 8 motion, over medium-low heat, until thickened, about 5 minutes. When the ice cream mixture is properly cooked it coats the back of the spoon, is satiny thick, and free of any bubbles on the surface. (The ice cream base will taste slightly egg-y.) When the mixture is thickened pull it from the heat; add the reserved 1/2 cup cream, and strain it through a fine strainer into a medium bowl.
Set the bowl of ice cream base in a bowl of ice and whisk until cool. Add the fruit puree.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Take care not to over churn the ice cream or it can have a grainy texture.) Place the ice cream in the freezer to set up for at least 1 hour. Serve.

Strawberry Rhubarb Puree Ingredients:
1/2 pint strawberries, washed and quartered
1 stalk of rhubarb, chopped
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Combine water and sugar in pot over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add strawberries and rhubarb to syrup and let simmer until softened (about 30 minutes). Process mixture through a food mill (if you don't have a food mill, use a blender and a fine sieve).

Blueberry Puree Ingredients:

2 cups blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Combine water and sugar in pot over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add blueberries to syrup and let simmer until softened (about 30 minutes). Process mixture through a food mill (if you don't have a food mill, use a blender and a fine sieve). I added blue food coloring at this point so the end result would be more blue than purple, but that's optional.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup sour cream

6 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, or with a hand mixer and a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add sour cream and beat until smooth. Add heavy cream and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Take care not to over churn the ice cream or it can have a grainy texture.) Place the ice cream in the freezer to set up for at least 1 hour. Serve.