Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

When we got married, Eric's parents gave us a Tangerine Kitchenaid mixer with an ice cream making attachment and we were so excited about it. You have to freeze the bucket a day or two ahead of time so its nice and frozen for churning the ice cream. So we tossed the bucket in the freezer and let it get nice and solid and got ready for some home made ice cream! But it was cold, so we waited for it to get warmer. Then we moved. Then we got busy working on the house. Then it was winter again. Then we were working on the house again. Then it was memorial day weekend almost 2 years later and we finally pulled out the bowl and got to churning. We had the good fortune of finding a great year-round fruit stand about 5 minutes down the road from us who had Cherries on sale, lost of cherries, not much money, so we went for it and brewed up a Cherry Ice Cream and tossed in some mini Chocolate Chips for that extra something. Check it out after the break and tell us what you think!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

What You Will Need

1 1/2 cups of fresh cherries (pitted)

3/4 cup milk

1 3/4 cup cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp lemon juice

6 ounces of mini chocolate chips (or you can chop your own chocolate into mini pieces)

In a medium sauce pot, cook the cherries, milk, 1 cup cream, sugar and salt over medium heat until it gets steamy and little bubbles form on the edge of the pot.  Turn the heat to low and let sit for about 15 minutes making sure it does not boil.  

Remove from heat and puree until smooth. For this step you can work in batches using a blender, but I suggest investing in an immersion blender.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining cream. Refrigerate for several hours until well chilled.  

Once chilled, stir in the lemon juice and churn the ice cream according to your ice cream maker. We have the attachment to the kitchen aid mixer and it worked really well. Once the ice cream is churned well, fold in the chocolate chips.  

Serve cold and store the rest in an airtight container.