Raspberry Ice Cream

Raspberry ice cream used to be available in printed form only, at least in my childhood. In many a children's book it was a ubiquitous synonym for an ideal summer. But life is not always a bowl of cherries. Not a single ice cream parlor in Cologne had raspberry ice cream on offer those days.

Nowadays' supply for ice cream is more manifold and colorful. Next to atrocities like Snickers ice cream, you actually find raspberry ice cream more than often in the vitrines. Homemade raspberry ice cream with fresh ingredients is, of course, way better than everything you find outside. You absolutely need, however, an ice cream maker. You will occasionally find instructions that make do without an ice cream maker. Don't believe them! It just doesn't work!

Ingredients

Serves four, prepares in 5 minutes plus 30 to 40 minutes in the ice cream maker

• 250 g raspberries
• 200 ml whipping cream
• ca. 80 g sugar
• 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
• 1 level tbsp finely chopped basil
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Preparation

1. Pre-cool the ice cream maker.
2. Mix 250 g raspberries in the blender.
   
   Mixing the raspberries (and seasoning to taste!)
3. Add ca. 80 g sugar, one pinch cayenne pepper, one teaspoon lemon or lime juice, one level tablespoon finely chopped basil and 200 ml whipping cream, and stir with a spoon.
   
   The ice cream maker must be operated by qualified personnel only.
4. Transfer the mass into the pre-cooled ice cream maker. Stir for 30-40 minutes until the ice cream has achieved the desired stiffness.
   

You must not whip the cream with the blender because it may get stiff unintentionally. You should also not process the basil with the blender. The green basil juice gives an unpleasant color to the ice cream mass.

The exact quantity of sugar depends on the quality of the raspberries and personal taste. Short of fresh raspberries, you can use deep-frozen products but you they should be thawed first.

What you see on the photos is a variant with black pepper instead of cayenne pepper and basil. Do not try that out yourself! It is not exactly delicious.