Roasted Apricot Ice Cream

Hands down, ice cream is my downfall! And this one, made with fresh apricots that have been roasted in the oven, is ambrosial. Loved the idea of roasting the fruit first and I combined a couple  recipes here, plus my old basic vanilla ice cream base (use your favorite base) with the addition of coriander. When coriander seeds are crushed they give off a mild nutty, spicy, citrus flavor. Lovely with the apricots.
Keep in mind that both the puréed apricots and the base should be refrigerated (separately) overnight.
Enjoy!

Roasted Fresh Apricot Ice Cream

For the apricots:
(The idea for roasting the fresh apricots came from HERE)
1 pound apricots
4 tablespoons light brown sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Slice the apricots into quarters and remove the pits. Place on the prepared sheet pan and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Roast for about 20 minutes, or until fruit juices are bubbly and starting to caramelize.

Let apricots cool, then pulse in a food processor or blender until roughly puréed. Taste for sweetness, add a tad more sugar if necessary. I refrigerated overnight.

For the ice cream base:
(The idea for adding coriander came from HERE)
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
dash fine sea salt
2 large eggs and 4 large egg yolks
10 coriander seeds, crushed coarsely and tied in cheesecloth

Method:
Beat together the eggs, yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is pale and lemon colored.
Heat the cream and milk with the vanilla and coriander seeds. Remove from heat just before mixture reaches the boiling point.
Pour mixture in a thin stream into the eggs and mix thoroughly. Pour back into a double boiler and put over very hot water on a medium flame. Cook until thickened to the consistency of custard.

Remove from heat and cool, whisking occasionally. Remove coriander bag. Strain mixture into a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, mix the apricots into the base and churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers’ instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer as I did until needed.