Fromage Blanc Ice Cream with Blueberry Caramel and Strawberries
Killian Weigand
Excelsior
Boston MA

Special for summer´s Red-White-and-Blue Celebration: a festive dessert with all three colors by Chef Killian Weigand of Lydia Shire´s new Excelsior in Boston, patriotic territory indeed. Pyramids of white fromage blanc ice cream are paved with bright red strawberry slices. Then comes the splash of blueberry caramel! Crisp, translucent pine nut wafers, more candy than wafer, add a final touch. The great news is that you´ll have plenty of ice cream, so you can make the ice cream once and serve this dessert several times during hot weather.

Serves 6

Fromage Blanc Ice Cream

3 pounds fromage blanc (substitute: farmer´s cheese, cream cheese, mascarpone)

3 quarts heavy (whipping) cream

1 quart buttermilk

3 vanilla beans

7 cups sugar

Pine Nut Wafers

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups corn syrup

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

3-1/4 cups pine nuts

Blueberry Caramel

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 pint Blueberries

1 cup water

6 large strawberries

Confectioner´s sugar for dusting

To prepare the ice cream: Combine the cream and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Split the vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into the cream mixture, then drop in the pods. Bring just to a boil over medium heat; remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes. Pick out the pods. Put the fromage blanc in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat in the cream mixture at low speed, then beat in the buttermilk. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer´s directions.

Pack into 6 pyramid molds and freeze until ready to use. Freeze any leftover ice cream in an airtight container for future use.

To prepare the wafers: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the sugar, corn syrup and butter for 3 minutes. Mix in the pine nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto the parchment paper, leaving space for them to spread, and bake until golden. While the wafers are still hot, cut into perfect rounds with a 2 or 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter, pulling away the trimmings. Let cool, then gently lift and store in an airtight container.

To prepare the blueberry caramel: Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and cook to 230 F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Stir in blueberries and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until the berries release their color. Adjust with water to desired thickness.

To serve: Slice each strawberry vertically into four pieces. Remove the molds from the freezer and let them warm slightly. Lightly dust one end of oblong dessert plates, or one side of round plates, with confectioner´s sugar. Unmold an ice cream pyramid onto the dusted portion of each plate. Lean a strawberry slice against each side of the pyramids. Stand a wafer in the top of each. Spoon blueberry caramel on the other side of each plate, drawing through it with a toothpick or the sharp point of a knife to create a sunburst effect.