Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream

My mom sent me a text informing me that today was National Ice Cream Day, who knew!  I couldn’t let the day pass without enjoying some ice cream and this delicious homemade Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream was the perfect way to celebrate!

The other day I bought fresh cherries and set out to find a recipe I could use them in.  There were lots of tasty looking recipes out there, but in the end I decided to adapt a few to make this decadent cherry cheesecake ice cream.

Enjoy it in a bowl with a graham cracker square and a cherry on top.

Or sandwich the cherry cheesecake ice cream between two graham crackers to make a tasty kid-friendly treat!  Next time I make these I’d put scoops of ice cream in the freezer for a few minutes so it was a little more firm and didn’t melt so fast.

Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream:

8 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 cup whole milk (at room temperature)

1/2 cup sugar

Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 handful of cherries (chopped)

Directions:

1. Use a mixer to combine the milk, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl.  Add lemon juice and peel, vanilla and salt.  Make sure that everything is well combined and there are no lumps.

2. Slowly pour the ice cream base into the ice cream machine

3. While the machine is working it’s magic, remove the pits from the cherries.  Then use a food processor or your knife to make a chunky fruit compote.

4. Once the ice cream starts to thicken (about 30 minutes, depending on your machine) add the cherries and let it finish.  It should take another 10-15 minutes

5. Serve the ice cream with graham crackers and a cherry.  If there are any leftovers you can keep it in the freezer for 2 weeks.  Remember to take it out of the freezer 30 minutes prior to serving to get the soft, smooth texture again.

Enjoy!  What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?