This weekend, Micah is having a backyard barbecue to welcome our friend James back to Durham. Smoked Boston butt, North Carolina beer, sides for days, Cackalacky wings, and good friends to share it all with. I, of course, offered to make dessert.
Micah requested something seasonal or North Carolina-y, and I wanted to try a new recipe. I tweaked this recipe by subbing (perfectly ripe and local) strawberries for cherries, subbing mascarpone for goat cheese (I ended up throwing in a bit of goat cheese anyway for a bit of tang), adding vanilla, and cutting the sugar pretty significantly.
This is basically strawberry cheesecake ice cream with a fancy name. I was curious about an eggless ice cream (and wary of anything that includes corn syrup), but the texture and shortened preparation time were totally worth it in this instance - especially since I was making a double batch. It's luscious and tart-sweet with a cheesecake-y tang. It scoops beautifully, and should be a sweet, late-spring / early-summer note on which to end the barbecue.