Cherry, Almond & Chocolate Ice Cream

My father and I are the biggest fans of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. It was such a treat as a kid...teenager...and now adult. I decided to recreate it over three years ago and have tried to perfect it ever since and I think I’ve got it, if I do say so myself! Cheers!

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Whole jar (~ 1 cup) of pitted Amarena or Luxardo Cherries drained (I use the ones from Trader Joe’s) 

2 tsp almond extract 

1 Bar dark chocolate shaved ~ 3 oz (we like Lindt)

1 tbsp amaretto 

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan add milk, 1 cup of heavy cream, sugar, almond extract and egg yolks over medium heat

2. Constantly stir the mixture until it has thickened into a custard and coats the back of a wooden spoon 

3. Once custard has thickened, strain mixture into the rest of the heavy cream and chill at least 8 hours in the refrigerator or 2-3 hours in the freezer (if using freezer method mix every 30 min)

4. Once chilled, add custard mixture to your ice cream maker and freeze following manufacturer’s instructions

5. While ice cream is freezing, chop up all cherries and shave your chocolate bar (you can use a vegetable peeler). 

6. Towards the end of the freezing process add cherries, chocolate and amaretto. Mix well

7. Once frozen, serve in a pretty glass and enjoy!