Black Forest Ice Cream with Cherry Coulis

Top view of a white bowl with black forest ice cream.

5 from 2 votes

Black Forest Ice Cream with Cherry Coulis

This easy black forest ice cream recipe makes a rich and creamy chocolate ice cream filled generously with swirls of homemade cherry sauce.

Prep Time20

Churning & Freezing Time10

Total Time10 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: quartz

Calories: 1875.2kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

Cherry Coulis

175 g fresh cherries (approximately 1 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
20 g sugar
5 tablespoon water
½ tablespoon corn starch

Ice Cream Base

150 ml full fat milk
275 ml heavy cream (at least 35% fat)
50 g sugar
75 g dark chocolate
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch salt

Topping

chocolate shavings (or chopped chocolate)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Making the cherry coulis

Wash and pat the cherries dry. Remove the stems and pit them (see Note 1).
Add the sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of water.
Turn on the heat to low and cook the cherries until the cherries turn soft. Keep stirring the fruits constantly to avoid the bottom from burning. As you stir, try breaking them with the spoon. This should take about 10 minutes, depending on the heat you use. If the mixture turns too dry and the cherries are still not soft, you can more water and continue to cook them until the cherries are soft.
Let the cooked cherries cool down and then add them into a blender. Add two and half tablespoons of water and process them for about 10 to 15 seconds (see Note 2).
Pour the blended cherries puree into a strainer.
Use the back of a spoon to press out as much extract and sauce as possible from the cooked fruits, leaving on the skin pulp behind. Discard the pulp. (see Note 3).
Return the strained cherry coulis into the pot.
In a small plate, mix the cornstarch with the remaining half tablespoon of water. Make sure it is smooth and there are no lumps of the cornstarch.
Add the cornstarch mix into the coulis.
Turn on the heat and stir the cornstarch quickly to ensure the cornstarch does not cook into gooey lumps in the cherry coulis.
Continue cooking over low heat until the coulis thickens to your desired consistency.
Turn off the heat and the the cherry coulis cool down to room temperature before pouring it into a clean container. Keep the coulis refrigerated until ready to use.

Making the ice cream base

Chop the chocolate into small pieces (see Note 4). Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
Add the heavy whipping cream into the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate and cream in a microwave or in a double boiler (see Note 5). Stir the chocolate and cream to expedite the melting.
Once the chocolate is completely melted, remove it from heat (or the microwave). Add the sugar and salt and stir until both are dissolved (see Note 6).
Measure milk into the melted chocolate.
Add vanilla essence and mix well.

Churning the ice cream

Cover and place the ice cream base prepared above in the fridge (not the freezer) to chill it completely. You can even leave it overnight. When completely chilled, pour the solution into the ice cream maker and churn it as per your ice cream machine manual.
At the end of the churning process, your homemade ice cream should be well formed, smooth and creamy.

Assembling the black forest ice cream

Transfer one third of the black forest ice cream base into an ice cream tub.
Spoon one third of the cherry coulis onto the ice cream.
Use a jam knife or a palette knife to cut through the cherry sauce on the ice cream in circular motion to create cherry coulis swirls.
Top with second layer of ice cream (another one third of the ice cream). Repeat with another one third of the cherry sauce and form the swirls again.
Spoon the remaining one third of the ice cream and top it with the remaining cherry coulis.
Again, form swirls on the black forest ice cream to complete the assembly. Place the ice cream in the freezer until it is completely frozen before serving.

Serving the ice cream

Scoop the black forest ice cream into a serving cup. If the ice cream is too hard, leave it at room temperature for about 2 to 3 minutes before scooping again.
Top the ice cream with chocolate shavings. Add more cherry coulis if you like and serve.

Notes

You can pit the cherries by cutting them into half all round the seed and then twisting both sides of the fruit to separate the 2 sections. Use a small knife or spoon to remove the seed from the fruit section it is attached to. Add the halved and pitted cherries into a small pot.
Processing the cherries will make it easier to strain and squeeze the sauce out of the cooked cherries.
Make sure to scrape the bottom of the strainer constantly as you press the fruits with the back of your spoon. Much of the thick cherry extract will be sticking to the strainer.
If you are using chocolate chips or buttons, there is no need to chop them further.
If you do not have a microwave or a double boiler, here’s how you can double boil your chocolate with the pans you have at home. If using the microwave, heat the chocolate in 10 to 20 seconds intervals. Mix the chocolate to see if it has fully melted. If using the double boiling method, stir the chocolate and cream to expedite the melting process.
If you do not feel anything grainy at the bottom of your bowl or jug as you stir, that is an indication that the sugar and salt are dissolved.
To make no churn black forest ice cream, prepare the cherry coulis as indicated in this recipe but replace the chocolate ice cream base in this recipe with my no churn chocolate ice cream recipe.

Nutrition