roasted grapes + olive oil ice cream!!
roasting grapes makes them sweeter, jammier, and more delicious, albeit wrinkly and charmingly shrivelled. the olive oil ice cream is sweet, savoury and when served together, it’s all just… perfect.
Let’s talk about grapes!
Grapes, to me, have always felt indulgent. Yes, they’re fruit, but they’re also “nature’s candy”. Growing up, my mother would often have a big bowl of grapes out on the kitchen counter and I would pop them into my mouth any time I happened by until (and even after) my tummy started to hurt. Once, in my early twenties when I was living in a ritzy part of the city (don’t get it twisted, I lived with two roommates), I accidentally spent $45 on a handful of trail mix and a bag of grapes at the organic market down the block. Indulgent!!
I’m not alone here–historically, people have really gotten into grapes! They get shout outs in the Bible and in Greek mythology. We turn them into wine, we turn them into raisins (and then we turn them into oatmeal raisin cookies, the superior cookie, if you ask me). The Chinese have been fermenting grapes since as early as 7000 BCE. In Spain, it’s tradition to eat twelve, one by one, with each of the twelve clock bell strikes at midnight on December 31st to ring in the new year. Dreaming of grapes is a sign of prosperity, abundance, and good fortune. In short, we should all be holding space for grapes.
Let’s talk about this dessert:
rosemary roasted grapes with olive oil ice cream.
Dang. It’s good. So good, in fact, I had to text my partner in the middle of his work day to share (or gloat?).
Roasting grapes makes them sweeter, jammier, and more delicious, albeit wrinkly and charmingly shrivelled. The olive oil ice cream is sweet, savoury and when served together, with an extra little drizzle of good olive oil, it’s all just… perfect. Perfect, and easy. The hardest part of this recipe, making your ice cream base, isn’t even hard. Yes, you’ll have to plan ahead as your ice cream does need to be made in advance, but roasting the grapes is effectively all hands off and takes less than half an hour. I made extra and tossed them in a salad the next day–we love a muli-purpose ingredient!
You don’t have an ice cream machine? Well, first, I think you should, because making ice cream is so fun (mine is named Tina Churner!!). But, I don’t expect you to, and you can achieve the same result by using store-bought vanilla ice cream and giving it a drizzle of nice olive oil.
may you dream of grapes, tonight!
(recipe follows below!)
rosemary roasted grapes w/ olive oil ice cream
olive oil ice cream:
125g heavy cream
125g whole milk
50g granulated sugar
15g honey
2 egg yolks
big pinch of salt
50g extra virgin olive oil
1-2 sprigs rosemary (optional)
The day before you want to eat this delicious dessert, make your ice cream base:
Place ¾ of the milk and cream, ¾ of the sugar, and all the honey into a medium pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. If using, add the rosemary sprigs to infuse flavour. Make sure all sugar is dissolved.
Mix together the egg yolks, remaining sugar and remaining milk and cream in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. temper the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, then return to the pot to cook over low-medium heat to 82℃, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula – you’ll know you’ve achieved the right consistency when you can coat the back of a spoon evenly and thickly, and it holds a swipe of the finger.
Strain the base, then add the olive oil and salt. Emulsify using an immersion blender or hand mixer. Cool and then cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, churn the base according to your ice cream machine’s directions. Freeze until ready to eat!
rosemary roasted grapes:
2 small bunches of grapes (or more, if you want leftovers!)
a good glug of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 sprigs rosemary
Preheat oven to 350F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
In a small bowl, gently coat the grapes with olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss with the rosemary.
Roast the grapes on lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, until blistered. Finish under the broiler for 1-2 minutes.
Serve slightly warm, with ice cream and an olive oil drizzle! Text your partner about it!