Is anything more summery than strawberries and rhubarb? More than watermelon, more than hotdogs, more than water balloons: as soon as rhubarb starts poking up each spring, we reach for our sundresses and big floppy hats because we know summer's coming. Usually, for us, it means strawberry rhubarb pie, but to celebrate this summer solstice we headed upstate and churned some ice cream in the Catskills.
This recipe uses less sugar than most -- we only added about 2/3s of a cup of sugar to the mound of strawberries and rhubarb reducing on the stove. We wanted the tangy fruit taste to really shine, and this version ended up being a little less sweet and scrumptiously creamy.
Strawberry and Rhubarb Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
2/3 cup of sugar
2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup of half and half
splash of milk
pinch of salt
Combine berries, rhubarb, sugar, and salt on a stove and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture boils and berries soften, about 10 minutes.
Remove mixture from stove and add to blender. Blend until smooth. Add heavy cream and pulse to combine.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate. It should be thoroughly chilled (we left ours in overnight). Then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Scoop into a bowl or cone, top with fresh chamomile flowers, and garnish with extra strawberries.