This decadent ice cream made with fresh seasonal cherries is creamy, dreamy and delicious!

Preparation

Stem and wash cherries. Combine cherries, salt and ½ cup sugar in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Cook covered over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes. Leave covered until the cherries have released their juice, then remove the lid and turn heat up to medium. Continue to stir and crush the cherries to help them break down.

When the liquid becomes a light syrup, strain cherries through a mesh strainer pressing with a spatula to remove the flesh from the pits. Press as much of the cherries through the strainer as possible. Reserve the pits. Continue to reduce the cherry syrup to yield 2 cups, then chill.

Place the reserved pits, cream and milk in a sauce pot. Bring just to a simmer. In a work bowl, combine remaining sugar and egg yolks in a work bowl. Strain the cream mixture and discard the pits. Temper the eggs with the hot cream mixture and return to the sauce pot. Heat mixture to 165°F while constantly stirring with a rubber spatula, then strain into a bowl over an ice bath. When cold, add the cherry syrup and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Churn custard base in ice cream machine per manufacturer’s instructions. Let ice cream chill in freezer for a minimum of 2 hours before serving.