a frozen taqueria treat … Horchata Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

I do so love a good, cold glass of horchata, that milky ivory-hued beverage often found in taquerias that, if good, tastes like liquified rice pudding. Many places buy it premade or premixed or whatever, but if you’re lucky, you’ll stumble upon a special little gem that makes it from scratch. A place that soaks rice and almonds and cinnamon sticks for a good long while to extract every flavorful bit out of those seemingly innocuous ingredients. When done right, it’s a magical thing.

I particularly like it over ice and served really cold. While musing over a particularly nice one a few weeks ago, I remembered a horchata popsicle recipe I struggled with last summer. It was terrible. Weak flavor, hard, icy and dotted with what I thought would be nice chunks of cinnamon-scented rice but instead were unpleasant pebbles of nothingness. BAH. I shelved the idea but maybe it was time for a reprise. After all, Cinqo de Mayo was coming up.

But rather than a popsicle, which I was beginning to believe was a bust, what about ice cream? I put together a rough recipe then poked around on the web. Oh. I see Serious Eats already did exactly that and from the looks of it, pretty dang close to the recipe I’d just written. Wonderful but at least I was on the right track. Digging through their posts I also learned that strawberry horchata is a thing, known in Mexico as horchifresa. An idea was forming. I loved the idea of horchata ice cream with a strawberry swirl. So I took my similar-to-Serious-Eats-recipe and did exactly that. Afterall, strawberries were on sale.

Oh holy deliciousness! The ice cream base is everything that is wonderful about horchata – a slight spice note from the cinnamon and a subtle underlying flavor from the rice and almonds that is just the slightest bit funky yet hard to place. Fresh strawberries are macerated in lemon juice and sugar while the custard base cools, then strained, puréed and swirled in once the ice cream is spun. It is a perfect addition; both pretty and delicious.

Let me just call out a few annoying things about this recipe before you curse my name while shaking your fists at the heavens. First you must have an ice cream maker and chances are good that if you do, it’s the type with the canister that has to be frozen 1-2 days ahead. This takes both space and planning on you part. Second, the rice, cinnamon and almonds have to be soaked in the half and half to extract their flavor. Serious Eats then says to “strain and throw out the solids”. Bullshit. Do you know expensive almonds have become? They’re causing a hysterical drought frenzy in California and I simply will not toss them. So instead, I returned them to a separate pot with some milk and sugar and made a rather rustic rice pudding. It ain’t pretty but it’s good. Third, I’ve worked the strawberry purée part of this recipe so many times and have yet to nail the quantities on the head without any leftovers. But how bad can leftover strawberry syrup and purée be? Put it into a glass with ice and seltzer or do what I did, throw it into a Popsicle mold for a single delicious ice pop. There are bigger problems in the world than this. Move on.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: SI SI SI. If you can somehow manage to shove, cram and otherwise jam that ice cream maker canister into your otherwise packed-to-the-gills freezer everything else is easy peasy. Oh wait, is that just me? Regardless, it’s very nice to have homemade, seasonal ice cream in your freezer. And just in time for Cinqo de Mayo! I haven’t personally tried it, but I think a nice boozy milkshake might be nice with this one.

Other Cinqo de Mayo recipes: Chocolate Churros, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Mexican Chocolate Poundcake, Mexican Chocolate Cookies, Mexican Chocolate Pudding Pops, Queso Fundito, Mexican Corn Elote Salad, Machaca – Mexican Shredded Beef, Posole Verde
Seven years ago: Roasted Tomato & Asparagus Quiche
Six years ago: Kentucky Derby Tarts
Five years ago: Homemade Crème Eggs
Four yeas ago: Cultured Butter
Three years ago: Scallop Ceviche
Two years ago: Guinness Crème Anglaise
Last year: Flourless Chocolate Cookies

HORCHATA STRAWBERRY SWIRL ICE CREAM – adapted from this recipe
makes 1 quart

for the horchata ice cream:
½ cup roasted, unsalted almonds
½ cup long grain rice
1 3” long cinnamon stick
4 cups half and half
5 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

for the strawberry swirl:
½ pound ripe fresh strawberries, stems trimmed, quartered
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup sugar

1. For the ice cream base: In a medium saucepan over high heat, toast almonds, rice, and cinnamon, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the half and half, stir to combine; bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a bare simmer over low heat.
3. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for two hours.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and egg yolks until well combined and slightly thickened.
5. Using a fine mesh strainer or a layer of cheesecloth set on top of a large glass measure (or a bowl), strain rice/dairy mixture.
6. Press down firmly on rice mixture with a wooden spoon to release as much dairy and rice starch as possible. Strained dairy should yield about 2 ½ cups. (At this point, you are finished with the rice/almonds/cinnamon. You can discard or make a rustic rice pudding with these “leftovers”.)
7. Rinse out the saucepan and pour in the strained dairy.
8. While whisking, add the egg mixture until well blended.
9. On medium heat, cook the custard while stirring frequently with a rubber spoon until the nape stage, when the custard coats the back of the spatula and a finger run across leaves a very clear line.
10. Stir in vanilla, then place a strainer on top of a bowl and strain the mixture again, to catch any cooked egg bits. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
11. For the strawberry swirl: Combine cut strawberries, lemon juice and sugar in a glass or nonreactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight with the ice cream base.
12. The next day, pour the strawberries into a colander with a bowl set underneath to collect the liquid.
13. Gently press strawberries to extract as much liquid as possible but try not to overly smoosh the berries.
14. Reserve the collected liquid for another use (mix with seltzer water for a fantastic drink) and puree the strawberries until smooth in a blender or with an immersion blender.
15. Finish the ice cream: Churn the chilled ice cream base according to ice cream machine’s manufacturer’s instructions.
16. When ice cream is ready, fold in the strawberry puree with a rubber spatula until marbled and barely mixed. I find the best way to do this to keep the swirl distinct is layer the ice cream and strawberry puree in a freezer container, giving one or two quick swirls with a chopstick.
17. Freeze for at least 3-4 hours before serving.