This sweet treat is the result of an ice cream “hack” requested by my wife. While on vacation in Maine a few weeks ago, she fell head-over-heels for a fruit streusel ice cream with cardamom made by one of our favorite ice cream makers, Mount Desert Island Ice Cream. Not a day goes by during our annual camping trip to Acadia National Park, that we don’t swing into Bar Harbor for a quick stop at MDIIC. Along with terrific versions of standards like coffee, strawberry and chocolate, they offer innovative and excellent flavors such as “Miso Caramel”, “Bay of Figs”, and the inspiration for this creation, “Berry-Cardamom Streusel”. We regularly try out new flavors at each visit, so when I noticed her returning to berry-streusel again and again, I knew her ask for a home-made version wouldn’t be long in coming.
To satisfy her request, I turned to my long trusted ice cream muse, Jeni Britton Bauer, of Jeni’s Ice Cream. I’ve made her Blackberry Swirl Ice Cream many times to rave reviews, and figured that a simple swap of blueberries for blackberries in the jam-swirl would be a logical first step in my hack. Beyond that, I crafted and baked a quick and simple streusel of oats, flour, butter and brown sugar. To both elements I added generous sprinklings of ground cardamom, and then swirled the jam and streusel into a vanilla ice cream base as I spooned it into a freezer safe container just after churning.
The result? While my version lacked the intensity of cardamom of the MDIIC version (perhaps I’ll try using fresh cardamom pods/seeds next time rather than pre-ground), by every other measure the hack was a screaming success. The smooth, rich ice cream punctuated by the bright, jammy fruit swirl and the delicate crunch of the streusel was a winning combination. So much so that Momo, our soon to be launched college freshman, made quick work of the first batch and made a special request for an encore to be served at her final meal home with family before heading off to school. Once she’s gone, I’ll probably end up making a third batch so that my wife can finally fully enjoy the product of her crave-worthy request.
Mission accomplished!
Cheers – Steve
Ingredients
for the streusel:
- 1/4 cup butter, cubed and chilled
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
for the blueberry sauce:
- 2 1/4 cups blueberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
for the ice cream:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 ounces (3 Tbs) cream cheese, softened
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
for the streusel:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Stir together the flour, oats, sugar, cardamom and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the cold butter until the butter is reduced to pea-sized pieces. Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Break up any large clumps into 1/4 to 1/2 inch sized crumbs.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown. Stir occasionally to prevent burning, bringing the corner pieces into the center. Let cool completely, then freeze until you are ready to use. This makes about 3 cups and will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month. You may choose to use less than the full 3 cups as a mix-in, if so, reserve the rest for snacking!
for the blueberry sauce:
- Combine the berries and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Boil until the mixture reaches 220 degrees, or until it slightly thickens and the berries smash easily, about 7 minutes. Let it cool slightly, then force through a sieve to remove most of the seeds and skins. Refrigerate to chill before using.
for the ice cream:
- Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
- Whisk the cream cheese and the salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
- Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup, and vanilla seeds and bean in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
- Gradually whisk the hot cream mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
- When fully chilled, remove the vanilla bean and pour the ice cream base into your ice cream machine and process per the manufacturers instructions.
- When scooping the finished vanilla ice cream into a freezer safe container, alternate scoops of the ice cream with spoonfuls of the sauce and streusel, and "swirl" with the blade of a butter knife to evenly distribute the two mix-ins. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
