Crème Fraîche Ice Cream

This ice cream reminded me of eating cheesecake; like a good cheesecake, it was smooth, creamy, lightly sweetened and just a little tangy. It was also very rich….too rich for me.

I didn’t have enough crème fraîche on hand – I was making the ice cream to use up the last of a container - so I added mascarpone cheese, a variation the author suggests, also using up what I had on hand. In combination with a custard base made with 5 egg yolks, this mixture produced a velvety ice cream.

I served it initially with macerated berries, which helped to cut the richness of the ice cream but everyone’s favourite seemed to be when it was served with hot espresso (affogato)…this combination tasted like tiramisu.

I’m having trouble rating this recipe…….it was very good ice cream but not one I would make again.

My husband and guests liked this ice cream, which I made with creme fraiche rather than mascarpone, but as the previous reviewer noted, a little goes a long way because it is so rich. I served it with fresh strawberries, although I'd originally made some roasted balsamic strawberries to go over it. But when I tasted the combo of the roasted fruit and ice cream, it just seemed like too much was going on, so I went with the fresh berries instead.

I agree with the previous reviewer about probably not making this again. It wasn't significantly better than fresh berries with creme fraiche and I think I kind of prefer the latter.