Blueberry swirl v.1.1 (Faux-lo Top)

While strawberry calls for fruit primarily blended into the base with some chunks, and cherry should be almost exclusively chunks, I thought blueberry called for a swirl. With maybe some chunks in said swirl. Having never done a low sugar yet freezable fruit syrup or jam, I jumped in blind.

By the way, my posts are a mess these days but if I don't throw something quickly out there, I never will! Oh, the tenure treadmill.

You'll notice most of the Faux-lo Top flavors these days run about 360/pint (the highest Halo Top calorie count we have) because Nate uses the same LoseIt entry for any ice cream he eats. I'd rather he not get cheated out of 80-100 calories every time.

Base: the usual Faux-lo Top with vanilla, only 2 yolks

(ETA: I made the second batch with skim buttermilk. While it was still tasty, the tang and distinctive taste doesn't really come through against the cheeses in the base.)

Calories per anticipated serving: 360 (with the entire batch of swirl... uh no)

Calories per actual serving: 290 (with a half-batch of the swirl)

Blueberry Swirl

Makes: 2 cups --> good for two generously swirled batches of Faux-lo!

- 400 g frozen and thawed blueberries, divided into 340 + 60

- 2 T water

- 2 T erythritol

- 20g corn syrup

- 1.5 T corn starch (dissolved in about 2 T water) --> I'd use less next time

- Pinch citric acid (1/4 t was too much)

- Additional sweetener, to taste: I used 1 packet stevia + 1 T Splenda In a small saucepan, heat the 340g blueberries, water, erythritol, and corn syrup until the fruit are bathed in juices. I find it easier to cover the saucepan at first. Simmer until beginning to thicken, smashing the berries as you go -- about 5 minutes.

Add the cornstarch slurry and continue to heat, stirring continuously, until the sauce has the consistency of a thick jam.

Remove from the heat and puree the berries (I used an immersion blender). Add the citric acid and taste for sweetness. The jam should be slightly more tart and sweet than typical.

Realize you've probably made 2-4x the amount of swirl that can realistically be incorporated into a single batch. Yup yup. I churned the vanilla Faux on its own and let it chill in the coolest freezer (5F these days) because I am super slow on extraction, and I was worried this type of inclusion might melt things further. Remembering my swirling lessons from the PB flavor, I added the berry jam swirls in three layers and left.it.the.bleep.alone. At this point, the jam was quite thick and a bit hard to layer on (I really don't think it needed all that starch). I put things back in the cooler freezer. That same night, the ice cream was quite scoopable (see pictures) but the larger chunks of swirl were a bit too dense and hard, without exactly being icy -- you could tap them with a spoon. I moved the container to the warmer freezer (12F), which improved the texture.

It really grew on Nate. He didn't have much to say the first night beyond reporting the swirl texture, but complimented it the following times. That's good, because I still have enough to make another batch. We have spiced apple swirls on our mind, too. Suggestions for someone else trying this: - Only make half the recipe unless you can score cheap blueberries at an awesome Mennonite discount grocery store - Consider adding some alcohol to lower the freezing point of the swirl, though more invert sugar (corn syrup) might not be bad

- Less starch, perhaps explore arrowroot?

- Report back, please

#sweet #recipetesting #alternativefoods #icecream