Courtney's Fresh Cherry Ice Cream

Once again, I couldn't resist fruit at the Farmer's Market - this time, a box of the last of the "Tart Cherries." Figured I could make a pie and bring it in to my client's. On tasting, though, the cherries turned out to be pleasantly sweet, and not at all sour enough for baking. With temperatures promised in the upper 90s and near 100, ice cream was the obvious answer.

Courtney's Fresh Cherry Ice Cream
(Makes a generous pint)
Enough cherries to make 1 cup when coarsely chopped (about 125g)
1-1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg yolk (use a pasteurized egg product if you don't want to eat raw eggs)
3T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste (I used paste)
1 or 2 drops of red food coloring if desired (I didn't use any)

Whisk all ingredients except cherries together until sugar is dissolved. Add cherries and stir. Chill in freezer 30 minutes. If it has started to freeze by then, stir it just to incorporate the frozen bits. Pour into ice cream maker and chill, following manufacturer's instructions. If you will not be eating it all right away, I recommend packing it in individual servings in small plastic containers. This is because the ice cream, I think because I use relatively little sugar, tends to get very hard in the freezer.

Eating Notes: Perfect. The complementary buttermilk and cherry tanginess blend to make an ice cream that is really crisp even as the egg yolk and heavy cream give it substantial richness. Perfect antidote to a hot early July day.

Oh, and I did manage to use the entire box of cherries without throwing away even one.