Rhubarb ice cream

This rhubarb ice cream is a delicious combination of a smooth, creamy custard base with a lovely tang of rhubarb mixed through. It's bright, flavorful and a delicious spring-like scoopful.

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If you've seen other rhubarb recipes I've shared then you'll know it's a bit of a nostalgic thing for me. I grew up with a rhubarb patch at the back of our garden and have many memories enjoying it over the years.

While we maybe didn't use it in that many ways at the time - though who can say no to a crumble or rhubarb fool - the flavor stuck with me. And so in more recent years, I've experimented with more ways to use it.

I have to say, this ice cream with rhubarb mixed through is certainly a delightful option and a great way to enjoy the flavor that bit longer. Yes, you have a few steps and a bit of waiting, but it's easy enough to make and well worth it.

What is rhubarb?

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable but when it comes to cooking, it's often treated more like a fruit. The leaves are actually toxic and it's just the stems that are edible. Rhubarb is tart, so you often sweeten it though you can use it in both sweet and savory dishes.

The main rhubarb season is spring but forced rhubarb comes earlier in places that grow it. Forced rhubarb tends to have thinner, bright pink stems which are sweeter and more tender from the growing process. Field rhubarb is more of a deep red-green mix and more tart.

Rhubarb pairs well with a range of flavors including berries like strawberry and raspberry (try my raspberry rhubarb jam and strawberry rhubarb crisp). It also works well with citrus, vanilla and dairy. So it's maybe no wonder this rhubarb ice cream works so well.

The ice cream base

The ice cream base here is what you might describe as a custard base as it's a mixture of heavy cream (double cream), milk, egg yolks and sugar. This is different from no churn ice creams. They use a mixture of whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk to get to a similar end texture without churning. 

Different styles of ice cream use different proportions of milk and cream, and also different numbers of egg yolks. I've gone with a higher proportion of cream since the rhubarb puree adds liquid and so this keeps it lovely and creamy.

I have also used what may be considered on the lower end yolks-wise, adding three for three cups of dairy. This is partly to be not so much to overpower the rhubarb flavor but enough to add to the richness.

Steps to make rhubarb ice cream

This ice cream comes together in a few stages, none of which are difficult but do need a little time.

• Cook the rhubarb then puree it. You have a couple options in how to cook the rhubarb - I made extra roasted rhubarb which is really easy and tasty. But you can also stew the rhubarb on the stove. Pre-cooking with some sugar breaks down the rhubarb fibers, brings out the flavor and makes a syrup rather than the moisture in the fruit that are more likely to cause ice crystals.
• Make the custard base. There are different ways to do this but essentially you warm the liquid, temper the eggs then warm the combined mixture to thicken it. This gives a lovely rich, creamy ice cream base.
• Combine custard and rhubarb then chill well. This part is where you need some patience. You need to chill the ice cream base well before you churn it or it won't churn properly. You need at least a couple hours but overnight also works.
• Churn the ice cream then freeze to firm further. Follow your ice cream maker's instructions but churning typically takes 15 - 20 minutes or so to reach a soft-serve texture or a little thicker. Transfer to a container to freeze further and store until you need it.

As I say, none of the stages are difficult but you do need a little patience as you wait for things to cool and then freeze.

Tips and usage

You can cook the rhubarb a couple days ahead of time, if that suits your schedule better, then blend and add to the custard base. If you can get thinner, pinker stems (like forced rhubarb tends to be), it will help give the ice cream a pinker color. But even with more mixed rhubarb colors, as I had, it will still taste great.

Making the custard is the one part than can be a little tricky but follow the process below and you should be fine. You want to make sure you only add a little warm liquid at a time to the eggs so you don't accidentally scramble them. I think having them already combined with the sugar helps but I know others add the sugar to the liquid.

When you heat the combined custard, take care to warm it gently and keep stirring. This avoids it burning or getting thick lumps in it. Let the mixture cool a little before you add the rhubarb, mix and chill.

This ice cream is a lovely sweet-tart flavor that's great to enjoy just as it is. As my son says the first mouthful can catch you out with the tartness, but then you get into it and it's really good. The sweet-tart aspect would also work well with spring flavored pies, tarts and crumbles like rhubarb, of course, but also strawberry and I imagine blueberry, too.

Rhubarb ice cream has a fantastic sweet-tart flavor and a smooth and creamy texture. It's a great way to use up extra stems and also enjoy the lovely taste that bit longer. A delicious treat for any rhubarb fan.

Try these other tasty frozen treats:

• Raspberry sorbet (packed with fantastic fruit flavor)
• Ginger ice cream (smooth, creamy with ginger both in the ice cream base and little pieces of crystalized ginger mixed through)
• Cherry ice cream (a no churn ice cream with delicious cherry flavor)
• Plus get more dessert recipes in the archives.

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