By now, it may be obvious I love weird flavor combinations. Not disgusting on purpose weird, but thoughtful weird. Complementary weird. Makes a good taste weird. That is why I was enthralled by the idea of getting to enjoy a scoop of pear and blue cheese ice cream at Salt & Straw, Portland's most well-known ice cream parlor, when we went out west for vacation last year. Remember vacationing? Those were good times.
It was cold and rainy the day we went to Salt & Straw on Alberta Street. I was partially soaked but I still wanted this ice cream, no matter how chilly I was. That ice cream was so good — a thick vanilla cream-flavored base, ribbons of pear puree mixed in, candied nibs of pear to crunch down on, and little pricks of a bright tang from the blue cheese crumbles dotted throughout the fluffy cupful of indulgence. If you weren't expecting the blue cheese, lightly salty and a little funky, freshly made from Rogue Creamery, it would certainly be off putting. But if you too, seek it out, you'll be delighted by them.
When I was researching the best ways to use figs, blue cheese and cinnamon stood out to me as flavor pairings for figs. It took me back to that ice cream parlor, where my rain jacket dripped onto the floor and I sat at the counter taking in bite by bite of that crazy treat I had to have. And I realized, why not put a fig in it?
This ice cream base does include a few ingredients that you'll probably have to put some effort into sourcing, like dry milk powder (near the coffee creamer in grocery stores), corn syrup (baking aisle), and xanthum gum (specialty grocery stores, in the Bob's Red Mill section most likely or online).
Fig and Blue Cheese Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 1 cup figs sliced in half
- 2 cups water
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup figs sliced in half
- ¼ cup sugar
- cinnamon stick
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons dry milk powder
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon xanthum gum
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 ⅓ cups whole milk
- 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Do the first three instruction groups on one day, then make the ice cream the second day. Do them in any order you prefer, as everything has to chill for 6 hours to overnight.
1. Make the Candied Figs
- In a small saucepan, mix 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Turn the heat to low and add figs. Let steep (not simmer, no bubbles) for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let sit in the pan, covered, for 1 hour.
- Strain out the syrup and discard (taste it first if you want though, pretty tasty). Set the syrupy figs aside and combine the remaining 2 cups of sugar and another cup of water in the same saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the syrup'd figs back in and turn the heat to low. Once again, let them steep for 20 minutes. Then let sit in the pan, covered, for 1 hour.
- Finally, strain out the syrup and put in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.
2. Make the Fig Puree
- Combine 1 cup of figs, ¼ cup sugar, the cinnamon stick, pinch of sugar, and ½ cup of water in a saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the figs can be easily mashed.
- Remove from heat and use an immersion blender (or pour into a regular blender), and puree until smooth. Put in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.
3. Make the Ice Cream Base
- Mix the sugar, milk powder, and xanthum gum in a small bowl and set aside.
- Pour the whole milk and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar mixture and whisk together over medium heat. Do not let simmer, but heat until sugar is dissolved, while whisking frequently.
- Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the cream. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container in the fridge overnight.
- Put the ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles in another airtight container but put it in the freezer.
Assemble the Ice Cream the Next Day
- Get the ice cream base and fig puree out of the fridge first. Shake the ice cream base (or whisk if not in a container with tight fitting lid) to recombine. Then add in the fig puree and either whisk or shake well to combine.
- Pour this into your waiting chilled ice cream maker base and turn on.
- In about 10 minutes, remove the cheese from the freezer and add in, once the ice cream has begun to slightly thicken.
- After about 10 more minutes, add in the candied figs and let distribute throughout the ice cream. Turn the machine off and use a rubber spatula to pour the ice cream into a freezable container.
- Let ice cream ripen in the fridge for 4 hours or until solid. Serve immediately, and return unused portion to the freezer.
So would you do it? It sounds like a lot of work and steps, but breaking it down isn't too bad! You could even make one component each day then combine together on the last day, since everything will keep in the fridge for a few days. But who wants to wait that long for ice cream?!
The way I did it was start with the base, put it in the fridge, then made both fig components at the same time. The puree was done first of course, then the candied figs. Throwing it together the next day was barely any effort at all — scraping the ice cream base out was the most work of all!
If you're interested in trying other Salt & Straw flavors, they have an official Salt & Straw cookbook! Where better to learn how to up your ice cream game than with sekrits from the best in the PNW?
Looking for other fig recipes? Try fig pizza, and stay tuned for more fig recipes this week.