A Song of Ice and Fire ~ Butterfly Pea Goat Cheese Ice Cream with a Strawberry Habanero Swirl

I know. No clever pun. I just couldn’t think of something that felt like enough to encapsulate this whole show. A show that we’ve spent years watching and that has given us so many unbelievable and breathtaking moments. So, I decided that our humble tribute to this show would be eponymous to the series itself: A Song of Ice and Fire.

It, of course, is ice cream so that’s the ice. I decided to color it blue as a nod to the eyes of the Others and Viserion’s flames and to be quite literal with the oft depicted “color” of ice. And, to contrast the blue ice, eyes, and flames, why not some bright red swirled like flames throughout? That’s where the strawberry comes in. And I love sneaking some spice into my desserts, especially when they are Game of Thrones tributes, so I made a strawberry habanero jam swirl to bring some brilliant red as well as some fiery heat. The goat cheese was actually an afterthought. My original plan was to have the blue ice cream stand alone, as a sweet cream flavor, but then Srini thought it would be extra delicious to make it goat cheese flavored as a way to balance out the sweet heat of the strawberry and habanero.

I chose to go back to my old method of making ice cream adapted from Jeni’s Ice Creams because I really wanted the blue of the butterfly pea to be apparent. I was concerned that if I made it with egg yolks, it would have turned out a little bit green. Unfortunately, the butterfly pea didn’t initially cooperate. It’s relatively flavorless and is a fascinating natural dying agent as it changes color based on pH. Goat cheese is acidic, so when I combined the beautiful blue milk with the goat cheese it turned into a lovely dusty mauve purple. However, this wasn’t the aesthetic I wanted, so a pinch of baking soda raised the pH right back up and changed it back from purple to blue! I chose to do only milk for this ice cream, instead of milk and cream, as the goat cheese adds plenty of body and richness and I wanted the goat cheese flavor to shine.

The strawberry jam swirl was made using this amazing method from Stella Parks over at Serious Eats. I chopped up strawberries, mixed them with sugar, and lemon juice and let them simmer. I used an immersion blender to break them down even further. I wanted the spice to come through, especially since the swirl is meant to be an accent on a very creamy ice cream base, so I thought I would be bold and start with a quarter of a habanero. And…it tasted like strawberries. So in went more and more habanero until I used up the whole pepper. But I finally had all the heat that I wanted. After that, it was just a matter of churning the ice cream and layering it with the strawberry swirl.

So tonight, I’ll be raising my spoon filled with the colors of the dragon’s flames, of the white walkers eyes, and of the contrasts and surprises that this story has taken us on to this amazing show, to the creator of the story, the talented writers who have taken over, and to the actors who have brought it to life. Valar morghulis!

A Song of Ice and Fire ~ Butterfly Pea Goat Cheese Ice Cream with a Strawberry Habanero Swirl

From The Hathi Cooks at https://www.thehathicooks.com/a-song-of-ice-and-fire-butterfly-pea-goat-cheese-ice-cream-with-a-strawberry-habanero-swirl/

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Yield: just shy 1 qt ice cream

Total: 40 minutes

A deliciously creamy, savory, and sweet goat cheese ice cream turned blue with butterfly pea flowers ribboned through with bright red strawberry habanero jam. The ice and fire, together, to commemorate the end of Game of Thrones.

You'll Need...

• For the butterfly pea goat cheese ice cream:
• 2.5 cups milk
• 150 g (1.5 cups) granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp (40 g) corn syrup
• 1 Tbps corn starch
• 2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers
• 1 large pinch salt
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• For the strawberry habanero swirl:
• 225 g (8 oz) strawberries
• 30 g (1 oz) lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 1/4 to 1 small habanero (see note)
• 170 g sugar
• 1 large pinch salt

Directions

1. For the ice cream:
2. (Follow the instructions on your ice cream machine as to if you need to cool a canister before)
3. Mix 2 tablespoons of the whole milk with the cornstarch and set aside. Crumble up the goat cheese and place in a large bowl along with the salt and set aside.
4. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar and corn syrup. Place a candy thermometer in the pot. Heat until 175-185F. Add the butterfly pea flowers and stir to combine. Maintain the temperature in that range for about 10 mins.
5. Give the corn starch slurry a stir, and carefully drizzle it into the hot milk mixture, whisking as you go. Increase the temperature to between 180F-185F and cook, while stirring intermittently for about two minutes. Check to make sure that at the end of that time period it coats the back of a wooden spoon and leaves a line in the spoon when you draw across it with a finger.
6. Strain the mixture into the bowl with the crumbled goat cheese and salt. Marvel that the mixture turns from blue to purple as you whisk thoroughly to combine. Make sure that no chunks of the goat cheese remain.
7. Add the baking soda and stir, while marveling that the mixture has turned back to being blue. Note that there will be some foaming during this time, which is okay. Just be sure your bowl is large enough.
8. Cool your mixture either in the fridge or in an ice bath until below 40F. While the mixture is cooling, make the strawberry swirl.
9. For the strawberry swirl:
10. Hull and coarsely chop the strawberries and add to a saucier along with the sugar, lemon juice, salt, and 1/4 of the habanero. Heat over medium heat, and as it starts to dissolve, use an immersion circulator to puree the mixture.
11. Taste and add more habanero to create your desired level of spice. I ended up using a whole habanero because the one I had was not very spicy, but do this with caution.
12. Continue to cook, stirring continuously with a heat proof silicone spatula. Cook until the temperature reaching 224F on an instant read thermometer.
13. Transfer into a heat proof container and refrigerate until about 40F.
14. Churn the ice cream:
15. Follow your ice cream maker's instructions and churn the ice cream. Pack the ice cream into a storage container as quickly as you can, drizzling in swirls of strawberry habanero jam as you go. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the ice cream and place in the freeze. Freeze for a least four hours. Then scoop and enjoy thoroughly!

Additional Notes

Strawberry swirl adapted from Stella Parks' Serious Eats recip.
Be cautious with the habanero and use only as much as you think you can handle. I started with a small amount and worked my way up to get my spiciness level.
There will be extra strawberry swirl. Why not eat it on a cracker with, I don't know, maybe some goat cheese?

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