Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Fig Jam by Maureen McHugh

This spring while traveling through Northern California with my husband, we made a stop for lunch in Petaluma. There is a ice cream shop there called Lala’s where I had Honey Goat Cheese Ice Cream. OMG, a new love that I knew needed to be recreated this summer.

The key to any great recipe starts with using good ingredients and for this recipe that means good goat cheese . Fortunately, we have access to high quality fresh chèvre from Prairie Fruits Farm in Champaign, Illinois right here in Glen Ellyn at Marché. The end result delicious!

Honey Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Fig Jam

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup honey
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fresh goat cheese, like Prairie Fruits Farm fresh chèvre
1/2 cup fig jam

Heat cream, milk, honey, vanilla and salt in a saucepan until just simmering. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Once milk mixture is simmering, slowly drizzle one cup of it into the yolks, while whisking constantly.

Add the egg and cream mixture back into the saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Crumble the goat cheese into a large bowl. Strain the warm custard through a fine mesh strainer onto the goat cheese and whisk until fully incorporated and smooth.

Let cool and place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker. Once frozen, layer spoonfuls of ice cream into a one-quart container, adding tablespoons of fig jam as you go so that ice cream and jam are layered together. Run a butter knife through the mixture in a swirling motion two to three times to gently swirl the ice cream and jam.

Seal the container and let the ice cream set in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.

The ice cream will keep for a week in the freezer.