Sherry & Mascarpone Ice Cream w/ Fig Swirl

ITS FIG SEASON and every year my family’s fig tree that my father planted before he passed gives such a beautiful bounty that I thought why not make a Mediterranean inspired Ice Cream with it.

This is also made with Pedro Ximenez Sherry and Mascarpone. I got this inspiration as one of my favorite things to do during fig season is to have figs, cheese (usually a tangy sheep’s milk cheese like Manchego) and a Sherry at the end of a meal instead of dessert.

The tang and saltiness from the cheese, mixed with the delicately sweet and earthy figs washed down with a luscious, viscous, dark chocolate-esq sherry is a perfect bite in my opinion so I tried to recreate it with this recipe. It packs a punch, both in the alcohol content (~15% of it IS sherry after all) and in terms of richness.

I feel like one scoop is more than enough to satiate on a blazing hot day - but I wont tell if you have 2 or 7...

Ingredients:

For the fig swirl, to be done the day before:

500g fresh figs
50g sugar, preferably turbinado or “raw” sugar
50g water
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 turns of cracked black pepper (trust me)
1 clove (optional)
1 tsp sherry vinegar

For the ice cream base:

150g Pedro Ximenez sherry, or other sweetened sherry – do NOT use a dry sherry
100g sugar, preferably turbinado or “raw” sugar
8oz Mascarpone Cheese, preferably from Italy or Vermont creamery
300g of the best quality heavy cream (not whipping cream) you can find
575g of the best quality whole milk you can find
1/8 tsp sea salt

Tools:

Cutting board
Pairing knife
Medium, heavy bottom, sauce pan (metal is necessary if using an immersion blender)
Wooden spoon
Instant read thermometer
Immersion blender (preferred) or regular blender
Medium metal or glass bowl
Large metal or glass bowl
Whisk
Skimmer
Ice cream mixer (I used the Cuisinart ice cream mixer)
Loaf pan or ice cream container
Plastic wrap
Parchment paper

Method:

Start with the fig swirl (night before)

Cut figs in half, place in saucepan with all the other ingredients and set on stove on medium high heat. Once it reaches a boil, set to medium and stir on occasion until the mixture comes to 220 degrees F. Another good indicator is that there will be a ton of steam and large bubbles when cooking the figs, once the steam mostly dissipates and the bubbles are smaller and less “noisy” it is time to take it out of the stove. Once it is done, take it off the stove.

If using a regular blender, transfer to the medium bowl and let it cool to room temperature before blending. After blending, transfer back into the bowl. If using an immersion blender, go ahead and blend in the pot. Transfer mixture into the medium bowl and let it come to room temperature, cover in plastic wrap and let set in fridge overnight

Ice cream base (night before)

After you have transferred the fig mixture to cool, wash the same sauce pan until clean then add the sherry and 100g of sugar. Place the mixture on the stove on medium-low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir sugar/sherry mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. You don’t want it to boil as that will cause some of the alcohol to cook out (you don’t want that for this ice cream), only enough to dissolve the sugar.

Once the sugar is dissolved, transfer the sherry/sugar mixture into the large bowl. Mix in the cream, milk, salt and mascarpone into the sherry/sugar mixture with a whisk until completely homogenous. Due to the high fat content, there may be a froth that forms and if it does – use a skimmer to skim that out – you DON’T want that froth. Once thoroughly combined, cover in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight. If you forgot to, now is your time to remember to put your ice cream mixer in the freezer (if you have a model that needs to be put in the freezer.)

Churning the ice cream (day of):

Line the loaf pan with parchment paper with some overlap (doesn’t have to be perfect, just do your best – you don’t want the ice cream to actually touch the metal.)

Take the ice cream base out of the fridge. Turn on ice cream maker and pour the base into the ice cream maker as its running through the hole on the top. Churn for 10-15 minutes, until the ice cream looks like soft serve, and then add the fig jam in 3-4 portions to incorporate into the churning ice cream.

Pour the mixed, churned, ice cream into the ice cream container or loaf pan. Cover in plastic wrap and place in freezer immediately and let it freeze for at least 8 hours.

When serving, let the pan sit out at room temperature for 5 minutes or so – this will help with scooping and serving. Moreover, serving it slightly above freezer cold helps with the delicate flavors (e.g., gelato temp.)

NOTE: this does not include eggs so it freezes pretty hard, I would recommend leaving the container of ice cream out for about 5 minutes before you try and scoop some. Also, because we are using fresh figs, there will be some ice crystals that form so the mixture isn’t supremely smooth, but I think the tradeoff is worth it. This recipe can also be done with dried figs, just decrease the weight of the figs to 25% of the fresh fig’s weight and soak it in the warmed sherry for about an hour before blending it with the Sherry/Sugar mixture (you can skip the “fig swirl” process) – it will be incorporated into the ice cream instead of a “swirl,” but c’est la vie.