Rhubarb Ice Cream
Hey rhubarb lovers. This Rhubarb Ice Cream recipe is for you. It’s tangy with a distinctively rhubarby flavor. And the color is soooo pretty.
Table of contents
Why you should make this recipe
There are plenty of great ice creams available in the market. So why go to the trouble to make your own?
Although there are hundreds of ice cream brands and flavors in my local market, I have never seen a container of Rhubarb Ice Cream on the shelf.
I make my own ice cream not only because it’s fun, but also because I can create virtually any flavor I want.
Ice Cream recipes are generally very simple with a fairly short list of ingredients. I mean, basically, it’s just frozen cream.
But of course there’s plenty of chemistry working behind the scenes in every ice cream recipe. If you’re a geek like me and enjoy the science behind a recipe, you should visit this post about making Homemade Ice Cream.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cream – Usually I use a combination of milk and cream for making the ice cream base. We use pureed rhubarb to replace the milk for this recipe to achieve a perfectly scoopable and creamy texture.
- Sugar – As we learned in the Baking School post all about the science of sugar, sugar is much more than a simple sweetener. We know it does all sorts of wonderful things for the texture of baked goods. Well, sugar also does all sorts of wonderful things for the texture of ice cream. As the sugar melts into the cream, dissolved sugar molecules interfere with the crystallization of water molecules. This reduces the freezing point of the mix so it won’t freeze rock-solid.
- Egg Yolks – Homemade ice cream made with egg yolks has a luscious custardy texture and it melts more slowly than ice cream made without eggs or yolks.
- Rhubarb – For this recipe I recommend using frozen, not fresh rhubarb. Freezing the rhubarb helps break it down so more juice is released from the stalks when the rhubarb is pureed. This is also convenient because you can stock up during rhubarb season and freeze it for later.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Start with frozen and defrosted rhubarb.
- Puree the rhubarb in a food processor or blender until it’s very soft like applesauce.
- Strain the pureed rhubarb through cheesecloth to extract the juice.
- You’ll be left with just the rhubarb fiber. This can be composted.
- In a medium size pot, heat up the cream and rhubarb juice. Combine the yolks with the sugar.
- Heat the cream and rhubarb mixture until it’s scalding hot, but not at a full boil. “Liason” the yolks into the cream to make the ice cream base. Cook the on medium low heat until the custard base is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Chill the custard before churning in your ice cream maker.
- Churn the ice cream according the to the manufacturer’s instructions for your ice cream machine.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to a container and freeze overnight until firm.
How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream
Use half frozen rhubarb and half frozen strawberries to make the puree in the first step.
More Rhubarb Recipes
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Rhubarb Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds rhubarb (frozen and defrosted)
- 12 oz heavy cream (1 ½ cups)
- 6 egg yolks
- 8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
Instructions
- In a food processor, puree 1 ½ pounds rhubarb for 4-5 minutes until it looks like applesauce. Strain the rhubarb through cheesecloth to remove the fiber. You'll need 1 ½ cups (½ oz, 360ml) juice. Extra juice can be frozen and used for another purpose. If you have less than 1 ½ cups make up the difference with whole milk.
- Combine the rhubarb juice and 12 oz heavy cream in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium high heat until scalding hot.
- While the cream heats up, whisk together 6 egg yolks and 8 oz granulated sugar in a small bowl.
- Once the cream mixture is scalding hot, pour it into the bowl with the yolks and whisk to combine
- Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Cook the custard until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not allow it to come to a full boil. Remove from the heat and pour back into the bowl from the yolks.
- Cover the bowl and chill until very cold. At least 4-5 hours or over night.
- Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream machine.
- When the ice cream is ready, scoop it into a container and smooth to an even layer. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream, cover tightly and freeze until firm.
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Wonderful light flavor
When I told my partner that I was making rhubarb ice cream, he was very skeptical. he thought the taste would be bitter. To his great surprise, he loved it. it is really delicious
I had enough liquid drain off from my thawed rhubarb that I didn’t need to blend and strain. The liquid was pale and barely tinged the cream. Tasted great, though!
What make/model of ice cream machine are you using?
I have a Cuisinart. The same model I show in the recipe card (I’m obliged to say…As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.) I also have the ice cream bowl for my KitchenAid mixer which works well too.