2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, divided use
1/2 cup goji berries
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/4 cup cachaça (white rum would be a good substitute)
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
red or pink sea salt
Directions:
In a small bowl, soak the goji berries in the cachaça. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, milk and cream until the sugar dissolves and the mixture almost boils, about 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/4 sugar and the egg yolks until it forms a ribbon and is yellow and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add about a 1/2 cup of the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk to combine. Pour the egg/cream mixture it into the cream mixture on the stove. Whisk in cocoa, vanilla paste and a pinch of sea salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate. Strain mixture into a bowl. Drain the goji berries and stir them in. Allow to cool on the counter then cover and place in the refrigerator to cool completely then pour into a ice cream maker and churn until cold and set. Place in a freeze-safe container and freeze until solid. Serve with a sprinkling of sea salt.
My thoughts:
You all know how much I love the Vosges goji bar, right? Well, I started to wonder what would happen if I took those same favors and applied them to other types of food. I found goji berries while we were in New York and brought them home. I thought about making fudge or candies or brownies but couldn’t really decide which sounded best. I might still make them, but this morning it came to me: ice cream! I always think of ice cream as being tricky (custard making!) and time consuming, but it is actually quite easy (just stirring, basically) and the hands on time is short. The worst part is waiting for it cool and then freeze-I am so impatient. Anyway, I’ve only made ice cream a couple times before so I was a little nervous, what with all of the pricey ingredients I used and all but it is seriously the best ice cream I have ever had. Richly chocolate and creamy it would be delightful even without the plumped up goji berries, but they really push it over the edge. They are slightly tart and have sort of an herbal undertone that goes wonderfully with chocolate.
your pictures are so beautiful!
This chocolate ice-cream sounds delicious, with or without the berries!
I have goji berries which I added into homemade granola bars. They went very nicely with the recipe.
Making ice-cream sounds exciting but I’m not feeling very inspired at the moment. I suppose if I really wanted to combine goji berries with ice-cream i could just as easily get a tub of store bought ice cream and mix the goji berries into it. Lazy, I know 😀
I’m going up to New York next weekend. Where did you find the goji berries there? I might pick some up.
I came across goji berry in the form of juice at my local Waitrose supermarket. To me it tasted quite similar to peach but with an astringent aftertaste. I really enjoyed it
I can only imagine how good this must have been, I’m such a sucker for ice cream. Making the custard is well worth the time and effort, homemade ice cream tailored to your flavour wants is just perfect!
Very nice! Raw chocolate and goji berries is one of my fave snacks.
Yummy! Chocolate and goji berries. You can make an argument that this ice cream is good for you with the goji berries and chocolate. 😉
What an ineteresting combination. I bought a sac of goji berries a few weeks ago and have been nibbling away. I should try this ice cream.
j
oh i bet that would be great. oh man, i really want an ice cream maker now
That looks so delicious! Glad to see people experimenting with goji berries!
I have a HUGE bag of dried goji berries that I need to use up. Do you think they would work in something like this or should I only use fresh? I bet this is delicioius!
Hey Kristen:
I used dried goiji berries and rehydrated them in booze. I’ve never seen them fresh anywhere. And where did you buy your dried ones?
Rachel, thank you very much for the recipe!! It was so gooood!! Delicios!! I had those berries for a long time in the cupboard and didn´t know what to do with it. Thanks again! You can see my ice cream on the web.