My grocery store is still out of mascarpone cheese, which I need to make Peabody’s ice cream so I’ve decided to take a different route to get my strawberry ice cream fix. Long story short – I recently bought an ice cream maker because, well, just because.

I made a batch of rich homemade vanilla for my husband to enjoy (total lie… I’ve eaten as much of it as he has – maybe more) while I was off experimenting with ice cream flavors. No mascarpone in the house, but I did have a big ol batch of gorgeous strawberries begging to be obliterated so obliterate, I did.

While I was making the Strawberry Coulis, it hit me: What if I made the strawberry sauce spicy? Hopefully “hot ice cream” wouldn’t taste as ridiculous as it sounded – there’s only one way to find out.

A couple hours later, I sat in the living room with my bowl of Spicy Strawberry Ice Cream, barely able to contain my excitement. I knew the ice cream was going to be good - the coulis was good and spicy when I tasted it simmering and when I licked the rubber spatula after folding it into the ice cream. I took a bite: cold, creamy, tangy, strawberry, heat – whoa! The heat isn’t overwhelming but it sneaks in right at the end to let you know it’s there. I love the temperature contrast but my poor tongue must have been so confused. It’s definitely not your grandma’s ice cream!

Now if I could just get me some of that darn mascarpone cheese…

Spicy Strawberry Ice Cream
2/3 – 3/4 cup Strawberry Coulis (recipe follows)
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
dash of Worcestershire
1 tsp honey
1 1/2 cups Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Bring strawberry coulis, red pepper, worcestershire, and honey to a simmer and cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Pour juice through a fine-mesh sieve to catch the red pepper flakes. Refrigerate the spicy coulis until cool and then fold into homemade ice cream before the ice cream has completely hardened. If the ice cream is hard, pop it in the microwave on “Defrost” for 10-12 seconds to loosen it up.

Strawberry Coulis
1 lb strawberry, rinsed and hulled and quartered
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a saute pan, and cook until juices are released and the fruit is very soft (about 10-12 minutes). Allow mixture to cool for several minutes and then pour into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and then press the juice through a fine mesh sieve (I used a large spoon to coax the juice from the pulp and seeds through the sieve). This step is crucial – crunchy strawberry juice is no bueno. Refrigerate in a tightly covered container. Yields about 2 cups.

Note: This isn’t a sugary-sweet coulis. If you’re looking for something sweeter, add more sugar.

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