Raspberry Ice Cream

After a month of extremely unusual June weather, summer has finally arrived in Northern California. Time to get out the ice cream machine! We'd picked up some delicious raspberries, so I decided to experiment with raspberry ice cream. I put the raspberries, some sugar, and a bit of water in a pan and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

I pushed the raspberries through a fine mesh strainer, then transferred the remaining pulp/seeds to a piece of cheesecloth to squeeze out the last of the pulp and juice.

There should be almost nothing but seeds left when you're done.

I put the raspberry sauce in the fridge to cool, then prepared my ice cream base. I used half-and-half (instead of cream) and 1% milk (instead of whole milk)- still creamy and delicious, but lower in calories and cheaper. Double bonus.

I LOVE my Cuisinart ice cream maker.

The ice cream was absolutely delicious!

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Raspberry Ice Cream

                                  Raspberry Sauce:                           Ice Cream Base:

                                         1 1/2 c. raspberries                                  1 c. milk

                                         1/4 c. sugar                                              3/4 c. sugar

                                         1/4 c. water                                             2 c. half-and-half

                                                                                                         1 t. vanilla

Combine raspberries, 1/4 c. sugar, and water in a pan. Simmer on low heat for five minutes. Press raspberries through a fine mesh strainer. Transfer remaining pulp/seeds to cheesecloth and squeeze to get the last of the juice and pulp. Chill until cold.

In a large bowl, combine milk and 3/4 c. sugar. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add half-and-half and vanilla. Chill until raspberry mixture is cold, then add raspberries to ice cream base. Pour into ice cream maker, following manufacturer instructions.