Caramelized Fresh Fig Ice Cream

A week or so ago I wrote a while about fresh figs and this certainly is the time of year to get them.  For company the other night I made Caramelized Fresh Fig Ice Cream.   And it was out of this world.

I bought two pounds of fig which was about 21 large figs .  They were perfectly ripe to the touch and boy did they taste good.

Caramelized Fresh Fig Ice Cream
(makes 6 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
4 1/2 cups figs, quartered plus more for garnish (about 4 large figs per cup)
4 tsp. butter
1 tsp. Maldon sea salt
2 pints of good vanilla ice cream

In a large skillet, add the sugar, 2 tsp. of lemon juice and 6 tsp. of water.  Mix with a wooden spoon.  Cooking over a high heat, swirl the pan until the sugar starts to caramelize and turns a medium golden brown.  Remove from the heat and add the figs.

Cook over a low heat until the figs start to break down.  Add the butter, salt and remaining lemon juice.  Remove from heat and let cool.
Soften the ice cream at room temperature for about 15 minutes.  Beat it in your mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth.   With a spatula, fold in the fig mixture.  Freeze until ready to serve.
The fig mixture would also be great served slightly warm over a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.
We actually had the last of the fig ice cream the other night with a scoop of pistachio ice cream and the combination was remarkable.


Finally, a rather obscure writer by the name of Robert J. Hasting passed away a few years ago, but before he did he wrote a short little piece,
"The Station"
I quote in part:  "Sooner or later we realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at. The true joy of life is the trip. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, it is the regrets over yesterday and the fears of tomorrow.  So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.  Life must be lived as we go along.  The station will come soon enough."

I agree, eat more ice cream.  Bon appetit!