A Dessert Worth Your Time at the Gym

There are many desserts which, for me, don't equate the time at the gym or on the pavement that will be needed to get rid of the fat and calories consumed. However, the dessert we served up on the Fourth of July was not one of those.

We made (drum roll, please....) Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream and Homemade Lemon Thyme Ice Cream served over Batch Bakehouse's Lemon Pound Cake (grilled), topped with our freshly made mulberry sauce. It was as good as it sounds.

So...the ice cream. Pretty straightforward. If you've been following our ice cream adventures, you know we consistently use the same custard recipe and then add the fruit/flavor once the custard is cool. The lemon thyme recipe is linked here, and the strawberry ice cream recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
 6 cups of hulled strawberries
1.5 cups of sugar
1.5 cups of half and half
1.5 cups of heavy cream
4 egg yolks

Instructions:
1. Hull and chop the strawberries. Mix with 1 cup of sugar. Let this sit for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).
2. Whisk egg yolks with the remaining half cup of sugar.
3. Warm the half and half in a saucepan, stirring constantly so not to burn. When the half and half starts to foam, remove from the heat. Slowly pour this into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour so that  you don't cook the eggs.
4. Once combined, put egg mixture back into saucepan. Warm over low-medium heat, stirring, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.
5. Remove from heat. Stir in the cream.
6. Cover and cool overnight.
7. Remove half of the strawberries with a slotted spoon. Put into a separate bowl and save for later use.
8. Mash the other half of the strawberries to form a syrupy sauce.
9. Mix syrupy sauce with custard. Use ice cream maker as instructed.
10. Once ice cream is formed, spoon into a freezer-safe receptacle.
11. Mix in the reserved strawberries and freeze until ready to eat!

Mulberry Sauce (recipe makes about 1.5 pints)


Ingredients:
4 cups mulberries
3/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup of water
1 Tbs. cornstarch

Instructions:
1. In a saucepan, pulverize mulberries, creating a saucy consistency.
2. Stir cornstarch into water in separate bowl.
3. Combine cornstarch-water mixture, lemon juice, and sugar into the pulverized mulberries.
4. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool.
5. Strain sauce to remove seeds. Store in container. Serve cooled over ice cream (or pancakes or french toast, etc., etc.)

Then, to assemble this massively delectable delight:
1. Cut pound cake into 1" thick slices. Brush with butter and grill over hot fire for 2 minutes each side.
2. Put pound cake slices into serving bowls. Top with ice cream(s). Finish with mulberry sauce.

YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! ...and I'll be with you in spirit at the gym tomorrow.