Pedro Ximenez Ice Cream With Prunes

Ingredients

4 ounces prunes

1/3 cup P.X. Sherry (you could use cream sherry but the difference would be astronomically huge and just wrong—spend the $20 to get the real deal or wait to make it until you can).

1/4 teaspoon 5 spice (or, if you are feeling like an adventurous alchemist, try homemade Garam Masala with rose petals—I’ll give you the rec

1 Earl Gray tea bag

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup cream warmed

5 egg yolks, beaten to lemon yellow

1 cup milk and a pinch of salt

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream(warmed)

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon cognac (or PX Sherry)

Preparation

Put tea bag in 1 c of boiling water, let steep 2-3 minutes and remove.Combine Earl Gray tea and spices. Add the prunes and cook 20 minutes on a low flame until prunes are softened. Remove with remaining liquid(only a few tablespoons should be left), add sherry and let this macerate overnight or at least 5 hours.

Caramelize sugar with 2T water. Add cream to caramel slowly and dissolve any clumps you may have over a low flame.( I use Milk Thistle Farm cream...it's amazing).

Slowly add warm caramel cream to eggs, return to pan and stir till thickened over a low heat (don't let the mixture get much over 160º). Then add milk.

Puree ½ of the prunes and add to the mix. Refrigerate the mixture overnight.

Blend in an ice cream maker. When it is almost done, add the rest of the prunes, finely chopped with the accumulated juices and finish blending. Freeze to finish.

Best eaten softly frozen… and with chocolate! Cookies, flourless chocolate cake, whatever appeals… and more sherry, either in a glass or poured over the ice cream. Or, you could make the best chocolate sauce ever:

Chocolate Sauce

Melt the sugar till it turns dark amber, add heavy cream slowly taking care to melt any caramel that seizes up. Remove from stove and add chopped chocolate. Stir till smooth and add cognac and vanilla.

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About

The recipe was inspired by a wonderful recipe for prunes with PX Sherry and Earl Gray tea from Portugal. The flavors are intoxicating. I cannot say enough about this sherry and add it to salad dressings instead of balsamic (with a little sherry vinegar) it is so much superior (unless you can afford the $80 for an ounce aged balsamic), It is pretty easy to make and my guests were in a swoon over it!