Cantaloupe Ice Cream

So!  It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, and after getting some flack about that this weekend, I've recommitted to my blog idea and am going to try to get back in the rhythm of posting.  I don't have pictures for this post yet, but they're coming!  But enough about me.  As I've mentioned before, one of Matt's favorite fruits is cantaloupe.  As part of my evil plan to get him to eat more fruit, I've started making just about every cantaloupe recipe I can find.  (Next up - grilled cantaloupe.)  Those of you who know my dad know that ice cream making is in the blood, so when I ran across a recipe for Cantaloupe Ice Cream in the Ben & Jerry's ice cream book, I figured it was worth a try for a couple of reasons.  Partly the 'Matt loves cantaloupe' reason, partly the excuse to make ice cream, but most compelling was the 'cantaloupe and ice cream - really??!' reason.

Ben and Jerry claim that this is one of Jerry's favorite flavors, but they could never figure out how to make it in large batches.  This was still not enough to convince me that this would taste any good, but I dutifully went out and bought the best cantaloupe I could find.  Which, turns out, could have been better, but that's neither here nor there.  Anyway, since cantaloupe is a pretty water heavy fruit, the recipe calls for pureeing the fruit with a bit of lemon juice, and draining out the liquid.  The recipe doesn't call for making a custard base, you're just supposed to mix the milk, eggs, sugar, and cream together with the cantaloupe juice and go from there.  The more I thought about it, the more I decided that Ben and Jerry are wrong.  A custard base provides a smoother texture and more freezer stability to the ice cream (to my mind - I'm not an expert), and I was worried that the amount of water (in the form of cantaloupe juice) would make the ice cream icier than I wanted.  A quick after-the-fact consultation with my dad (an expert) confirmed this was the right decision. 

Anyway, I started by whisking the eggs, then adding the sugar a bit at a time, and then the milk and juice until it was all well blended.  I strained the cantaloupe pretty thoroughly so there was quite a bit of juice - at least two cups.  I cooked it in a double boiler until the custard thickened up and coated the back of a spoon.  This took a while since there was so much water, but it tasted pretty good so I figured it was worth the wait.  After it was ready, I plopped it in the fridge overnight to cool and let the flavor develop.

From there, it was pretty standard ice cream procedure - whip the cream, fold it into the base, and pour it into the machine.  Ben and Jerry say you should put the pureed cantaloupe into the ice cream towards the end of the freezing process, but my recipe made quite a bit more than theirs (because of all the juice, I think.  I bet I strained the fruit more than they do.  The instructions are unclear about how much juice you're supposed to end up with or add to the base).  So since my ice cream, which was a really pale orange color, was already to the tippy-top of my maker, I folded in the cantaloupe when I transferred the ice cream to its freezer container.  Apparently, I didn't do a good job of making sure the fruit was evenly distributed, though, since there are huge chunks of fruit in some areas and none in others.  Also, as with any fruit, the cantaloupe freezes in the ice cream, so while my attempts to make the base as ice-less as possible worked, the overall texture is still somewhat icy.  Dad says there are ways around this - maybe adding in a little sugar to the fruit to up the freezing temperature - so I've got some room for experimentation.

I am surprised that it tastes so much like cantaloupe!  To me, cantaloupe always seems like a more delicate flavor, since it really is mostly water.  But the orange from the fruit and the flavor come through really well.  And it does taste really good!  I think with a better cantaloupe it would taste even better.  I'm not sure that I'd want to eat it all the time, unlike coffee or chocolate ice cream, but it's surprisingly delicious.  So all in all, a successful experiment!

Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Modified from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

1 large cantaloupe (or 2 small ones), very ripe
juice of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk

Scoop out cantaloupe seeds, and puree fruit with the lemon juice.  Drain juice and reserve.  Cover melon puree and refrigerate.

Whisk the eggs until pale and thick.  Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Whisk in milk.  Add fruit juice.  Pour into top of a double boiler over simmering water, and cook, stirring occasionally, until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon.  Remove from heat, pour into glass bowl, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, whip the cream, and fold it into the cooled custard.  Transfer the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze.  About 2 minutes before it's done, add the cantaloupe.  If more juice has accumulated (and it will), do not pour it in since it will water down the ice cream.  Continue freezing until ice cream is ready.

Makes 1 generous quart (according to Ben and/or Jerry.  I ended up with a very generous 1.5 quarts)