Brown Sugar Fig Ice Cream

Delicate and silky fig preserves blend with richly comforting brown sugar for a late summer, and early fall, ice cream bliss…

When figs are around it’s as if we’re experiencing a rarity like Hailey’s Comet. Especially for us lovers who live in regions where this fancy fruit isn’t common, when we spot them, we flock and bring home as many as we can. In case you haven’t already noticed from endless photos on Instagram, we love our figs!

The varieties are endless, 700 to be exact, but try finding them. Californians, I envy you. The rest of us, I say we grow our own. If I had the space for it, I would have already planted a tree, but instead I’m savor what I’m dealt. These are the days I totally wish I was in Portugal, grabbing buckets of these gems whenever I could.

I’ve mentioned almost every time, but figs are my favorite fruit, not just because they are uniquely delicious, they represent more than just food, they are a special bond my grandfather and I share. Isn’t it wonderful how the simple things in our lives, like food, can make us feel so many emotions, remind of cherished people and moments. It’s why food is the main focal point during the holidays when we’re all together.

I know I just brought up the holidays, especially after sharing my distaste for the season change yesterday. But a light of excitement did spark itself for Christmas. Yeah, I’m totally jumping past all the other holidays, but I’ll let you in on my guilty pleasure, I live for holiday movies, especially on the Hallmark Channel. Once the holidays kick off, you most likely won’t find another channel on my TV. Hey, no shame, and when they officially start their holiday special movies as early as the end of October, I can’t say I won’t be watching……

…But these sweet figs, let’s not forget about them because they don’t last a month, they flee in the blink of an eye. They’re sneaking little fruits, first lightly popping up in early summer, and then entirely all in early fall.

Figs are more of delicacy than they are a fruit. They’ve got some serious royal history behind them.

Another reason to love figs, their beautiful vibrant and soft hues. Its color palette is one of my favorites for fall. It’s intricate coloring once opened appears even more lovely with is textured center.

They’re pretty fruits whose flavor is the perfect pairing to both savory ingredients, like cheeses and herbs, and baked into sweets, like tarts and pastries. Although aside from eating them fresh, my favorite would have to be homemade jam as sweet as honey,  which I used in this brown sugar ice cream.
It took me some time to figure out what flavor ice cream I wanted to do this time around. I knew I still wanted to highlight the end of summer’s flavors, so fruit was the obvious choice, yet with the approaching season, I still wanted to incorporate the comforting flavors of fall. Since my local farmer’s market hasn’t had an abundance of figs, I hadn’t been able to do much with the fruit. It’s a good thing I keep a jar of fig jam on hand just in case.

There are signature fall flavors and ingredients, especially when it comes to baking – cinnamon, maple syrup, ginger but the one that can easily be swapped in to create an instant comfort is brown sugar.

On its own this brown sugar ice cream is delicious. It’s subtly sweet, and rich like maple syrup. The fig preserves pair beautifully with the brown sugar.

There is a comforting richness from both ingredients, but when you find the swirls of soft fig jam, that’s the best. They are tiny bitefuls of fig heaven! Imagine what this ice cream would taste like if I had and endless supply of figs..one can only dream.

In the meantime I’m loving each scoop of this brown sugar fig ice cream.

Wishing you all a feast of figs…if you can find them!

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Brown Sugar Fig Ice Cream 

Ingredients {Makes 1 quart}

1 3/4 cups – 2% MilkHeavy Cream

3/4 cups – Heavy Cream

1/2 cup – Brown Sugar

1/4 teaspoon – Salt

5 large – Egg Yolks

2 teaspoons – Pure Vanilla Extract

Fig Preserves {make your own with this recipe, or use your favorite jar}

Recipe

To make the base, stir the cream, milk, half of the brown sugar {1/4 cup} and salt in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. When the cream mixture just begins to simmer, then reduce to low heat. In the meantime, whisk the yolks in a heat proof bowl,  then add in the remaining sugar and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, while whisking quickly. Add another ladle of the hot milk mixture to the yolks, making sure to whisk quickly to not curdle the eggs. With a clean spatula, stir the cream mixture as you slowly add in the tempered eggs back into the saucepan.

Cook the ice cream base over medium heat, stirring constantly until it has thickened, and the mixture coats the back of the spoon and holds a clear path when you run your finger through {about 2 minutes}. Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container, over an ice water bath. Using a clean spatula, stir the base frequently until it has cooled to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap, directly onto the surface,  and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Freeze the ice cream, by adding the vanilla extract to the chilled base, stirring until combined. Pour the base into your ice cream machine and freeze following your manufacturer’s directions.

Place your container into the freezer to chill. When the ice cream has reached the consistency of soft serve, place into your container, and dot with the fig preserves. Working quickly so the ice cream doesn’t melt, stir fig into the ice cream using a chopstick, or knife. Freeze at least 4 hours to set.