Maple and mascarpone ice cream

It was Canada day few weeks ago (July 1st, to be precise, which happened to be a very hot summer day), and out of the blue, I wanted to make something Canadian to mark the occasion. My wonderful *Canadian* apple cake was out of the questions, as the apples aren't ripe yet. All other dessert options seemed either much more suitable for cooler months or I didn't have the ingredients. And then it hit me. Why not make a Canada-inspired ice cream? I know, I know, there's much more to Canada than red maple leaves and sweet maple syrup, but I cannot help to put an equation mark beween Canada and maple syrup.

I had a tub of mascarpone on hand, as I had planned to make a lovely honeyed mascarpone ice cream. I swapped honey with maple syrup and served the ice cream with some candied walnuts (photo below). I made another batch last weekend - and finished it off yesterday, garnished with some sweet-as-honey cloudberries.

Summer and ice cream go hand in hand, so do enjoy both of them while you can. I certainly will, especially after it dawned upon me last night that over half of the summer is already gone :O

Maple syrup and mascarpone ice cream
(Vahtrasiirupine mascarpone-jäätis)
Serves six to eight



2 large eggs
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
100 ml maple syrup
250 g mascarpone, at room temperature
200 ml single cream (or double cream, see notes below)

Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. Stir in the maple syrup, then whisk in the soft mascarpone cheese. Mix until thoroughly combined, then stir in the cream.
Cool, then churn into an ice cream according to the instructions of your ice cream machine.

Enjoy straight away or let it harden in the freezer for about an hour or two.



Notes: If you haven't got an ice cream machine, then use whipping or double cream instead. Whip it to the soft-peak stage, then gently fold into the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the lidded box and freeze for at least 24 hours.