This Roasted Fig Gelato is the richest and creamiest homemade ice cream I’ve made to date on the blog. It’s made with fresh figs and mascarpone cheese, and stays beautifully scoopable even after a night in the freezer.
The mascarpone lends a lusciousness that lingers on the palate, and it has a long culinary history with figs — they bring out the best in each other. I can’t think of another fruit that is as full bodied as Black Mission figs. They have great color and flavor, too, which all translates into an extra special gelato.
But even though figs do have a wonderful natural flavor, flavors can easily get lost in ice creams and gelatos. It has to do with the dulling effect of the creamy ingredients and the cold temperature. The flavor of this gelato came alive when I made a few small but essential additions to it as it churned away for its last few minutes in the machine. A dash of brandy, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and most important of all, the juice of a lemon. They took what could have been a shy, understated flavor and woke it up.
This is definitely a sophisticated flavor, great for an adult dinner party, but I don’t think it would be as big a hit with the kids. Which could be a good thing, now that I think of it. That just leaves more for you and me.
Roasted Fig Gelato
Ingredients
- 1 lb Black Mission figs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 8 oz package of mascarpone cheese, an Italian cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Brandy
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Set oven to 400F
- Rinse and cut off the stems of the figs. Slice them in half and lay out, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes.
- Put the roasted figs into a food processor and puree them until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the machine a few times to make sure you get everything thoroughly pureed. Chill the puree.
- Put the cream, sugar, condensed milk, and mascarpone cheese in the food processor or blender. Process until the marscapone is completely blended into the cream. Chill the mixture.
- When everything is really cold, pour the cream mixture into your ice cream machine along with the fig puree. Process until almost finished, and then add in the vinegar, Brandy, and lemon juice. Taste the ice cream to adjust the amounts. Continue to process according to your machine's directions.
- Fold the soft gelato into a container and put it in the freezer for at least several hours to allow it to firm up.
Other fantastic fig recipes to try ~
- Baked Brie with Honey and Figs
- Cardamom and Brandy Poached Figs
- Fig Gruyere Crostini
- Homemade Fig Newtons
Don’t forget to pin this Roasted Fig Gelato!
One look of the picture of the Roasted Fig Gelato, and THEN, perusing the recipe for it and seeing that balsamic vinegar was in it, as was brandy…I KNEW this was a must make some day! Even if I have to purchase an ice cream maker!! I’ve made three or four ice creams that did not require an automatic ice cream maker, but the outline you provided for same for this recipe seems rather drawn out and involved. Let me just get an automatic ice cream maker! My hesitation has been not to get one because I work in and do volunteer work for an international hotel and conference center, and my home is the hotel room they provide for me. (I’m retired and am the present, one and only Baker for the Missions Cafe.) I would have to freeze my ice cream maker in our ‘shared’ walk-in freezer in a commercial kitchen. Still…that Gelato looks SOOOO good!!!
I just made this and it is wonderful! I added a little cardamom and I also used a balsamic fig syrup that I got in Italy and did not have Brandy so I substituted with a generous amount of sherry. It still maintained the subtle ness of the fresh roasted figs.