Rhubarb Ice Cream

With a steady supply of rhubarb arriving weekly, I used this week’s fruit to make an ice cream. Its tartness and colourful ripple made it a standout summer treat.

The recipe is from the Van Leeuwen Cookbook, a collection I’m slowing working my way through. This ice cream is really just a standard vanilla base (I used six egg yolks, cream, milk, and sugar) along with a sweetened rhubarb compote swirled in at the end. I doubled the amount of compote (SO MUCH RHUBARB!), adding most of it in the last 10 minutes of churning, and also layering some of it in the container before ripening.

I loved the sweet-tart flavour of this ice cream, reminding me of frozen yogurt, or ice creams made with mascarpone, sour cream, or buttermilk. It would pair perfectly with a sweeter dessert, like pie or crisp. The original recipe is actually titled “Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream” but I accidentally over-baked and blackened some leftover crumble I had been carefully saving. Oops.