Once in awhile we stumble onto something that makes all of our experimentation worth it. Ever since we’ve befriended our pal Heidi Skoog of Serious Jam, I’ve wanted to do a Toast and Jam flavor to pair with one of her wonderful jams. The challenge was figuring out a way to make ice cream taste like toast without having soggy toast floating in it.
I had originally planned to make croutons like we do with many other baked goods, but I wasn’t convinced croutons from bread would hold up in the ice cream long enough. The “ah-ha” moment came as I pulled the toast from the toaster. When I was a little kid, my mom would save dark or burnt toast by scraping the dark spots off with a knife. Why not just scrape the toasted layer off the bread?
And that is exactly what I did. Using some fantastic sourdough from the New French bakery located right in our neighborhood, I made a bunch of dark toast and scraped the toasted strata off into the sweet cream base. The toasted bits all steeped in the base as it heated, and the toast flavor that is produced is nothing short of spectacular.
But before we get all caught up in the idea of how much fun toast ice cream is, let’s talk seriously for a moment about Serious Jam. For this flavor I used one of Heidi’s banner jars, Blueberry Bourbon Sage jam. It is a fantastic, classically made jam full of ripe blueberries – singing with hints of sage and bourbon. Every one of her jams is a winner. We’re lucky enough to share a kitchen with her so we’ve become a little spoiled when it comes to jam. Look for her to be selling right beside us in the kitchen at upcoming sales.
Back to the matter at hand, Toast and (Serious) Blueberry Bourbon Sage Jam ice cream. I was literally jumping up and down at the result – the ice cream is brimming with toast flavor, and makes the perfect match for some very Serious jam.
Like to try some? You can be one of two lucky winners of this fantastic, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. Winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 4/18/14 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally. Prizes must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!
