This ice cream comes from Nigella Lawson’s original recipe for No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream, an absolutely sublime ice cream making method that involves cream being whipped, frozen, and little else. Instead of making a custard with eggs you combine whipped cream with a sweetened citrus berry purée and freeze for at least three hours, entirely unattended. I roasted the strawberries to achieve a meltingly sweet, almost jam-like, flavour – the lemon juice highlights rather than undercuts the  caramel undertones of the bright red berry. With the blackberries I wanted to do somewhat of the opposite, I briefly cooked the blackberries with fresh lime juice and zest in order to emphasize the tartness of the berries and to contrast with the more traditionally sweet strawberry ice cream. The garnish is simply three large strawberries diced and mixed with lime juice and sugar, left to sit for a half an hour before topping the the most delicious and easy ice cream ever.

VALENTINE ICE CREAM:

for the strawberry ice cream:

2 cups of full-fat whipping cream

1 2/3 cup of icing/powdered sugar

1 lb. of strawberries, washed and halved

1 lemon, juiced

1. Roast the strawberries on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting.

2. In a blender, blitz together the strawberries, lemon juice, and icing sugar until a uniform shade of soft pink.

3. Using a hand held electric beater (or even just a whisk, like I did), whip together the berry mixture and the whipped cream until soft peaks form. Fold gently into a small, air-tight container and freeze for at least three hours before eating.

for the blackberry ice cream:

2 cups of full-fat whipping cream

1 2/3 cup of icing/powdered sugar

1 pint of blackberries, washed

1 lime, juiced and zested

1. In a small saucepan cook the blackberries and lime juice/zest over medium heat for ten minutes, stirring a couple of times to prevent the berries from sticking to the bottom of your pan.

2. In a blender, blitz together the blackberries, lime juice/zest, and icing sugar until a uniform shade of magenta.

3. Again, using a hand held electric beater (or a whisk, as I did), whip together the berry mixture and the whipped cream until soft peaks form. Fold gently into a small, air-tight container and freeze for at least three hours before eating.

for the strawberry garnish:

3 large strawberries, washed and diced finely

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp. of sugar

1. Combine and let sit for at least a half an hour prior to eating.

Can I gush for a moment about going to see Yo La Tengo this coming Saturday? I have this fantasy where they’ll be totally genre-defying as with their albums and that they’ll play everything: the cute romantic songs, the shoegaze, the pop, the surf-rock, the obscure covers… I want everything they are capable of playing in one extended concert. Because of this impending event I have been listening to Yo La Tengo in overdrive for the past couple of days with an emphasis on I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. But as this is my real, official Valentine’s Day post I would like to dedicate this song (and the ice cream), to my sweetie:

Yo La Tengo – You Can Have it All