Pear & Blue Cheese Ice Cream
When I was studying abroad in Los Angeles for a semester, I took a solo trip to Eugene, Oregon to visit a friend from school who had transferred. I made a stop in Portland to explore the city, had zero expectations, but ended up loving my time there. I stayed at an AirBnB and down the road along Alberta Street was an ice cream shop that someone had recommended. It was chilly then, but nothing was going to stop me from ice cream hahaha. I remember being so excited because it was not like any traditional scoop shop, they had wild flavours that I've never imagined before.
I dug up an old blog post and found a picture of what I got: Double scoop with their Pear & Blue Cheese, and Stumpwood Coffee & Burnside Bourbon. Back then (year 2014..!!) It was $4 for a single scoop, $6 for a double - I couldn't finish a double scoop but I also couldn't resist trying multiple flavours lol. I loved it so much I went back again before I left Portland. :')
Many many years later, I got my hands on their cookbook and was so happy to see this flavour in it. Making it brought back pleasant memories from relatively carefree days as a student haha. It doesn't taste exactly how I remembered - and I'm not surprised because they use locally-sourced fresh Bartlett pears and award-winning blue cheese (I really love how they shop locally for ingredients).
Bartlett pears are recommended given their flavour profile, but I had troubles finding them in Singapore so I substituted with canned Bartlett pears (S&W Brand, from RedMart). I also used some random blue cheese which was stronger than I had expected, so depending on your personal preference I'd recommend either cutting down on the quantity or using a milder cheese.
Mix of sweet and salty: delicate pear ice cream base paired with blue cheese.
- 90 g sugar
- 15 g milk powder
- 0.25 tsp xanthan gum
- 40 g light corn syrup
- 320 g milk
- 320 g heavy cream
- 180 g diced pear
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 150 g diced pear
- 400 g sugar (optional)
- 50 g blue cheese
In a small bowl, add sugar, milk powder, and xanthan gum. Mix well and ensure there are no clumps.
In a medium saucepan, add the light corn syrup and milk.
Add the milk powder mixture and whisk until combined. Heat over low-medium heat until sugars have dissolved (do not let simmer).
Add heavy cream. Mix well to combine.
Blend pear with cinnamon. Add pear puree into ice cream mixture, mix well to combine.
Pour ice cream mixture into a resealable plastic bag, store in fridge overnight until mixture is very cold.
- Blue Cheese
Prepare blue cheese: Crumble blue cheese into small pieces, freeze to ensure they do not stick together.
- Pear
Dice pears into small pieces.
Optional: In a saucepan, heat 400g of sugar and 200g of water until sugars have dissolved to create a simple clear syrup.
Reduce to low heat, add diced pears and let it steep without simmering for 20 minutes. Pears will be saturated with sugar and slightly translucent but still intact.
Remove saucepan from heat, cover with a lid and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature.
Strain pears and let cool completely before using as mix-in.
Once mixture is very cold, freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Layer pear ice cream, with blue cheese and diced pears. Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.