Crème of the Berry Crop - Crème Fraîche Ice Cream with Fresh Marionberries

This post is technically late.  But I was determined to participate in the July BakeSpace Challenge, since I haven't done one in over a year.  This month just happened to be "Local Produce From the Farmer's Market".  This turned out to be a little more challenging than I anticipated, partly due to the extremely wet weather this spring having delayed crops again, just like last year.  But as luck would have it, I found some Marion Berries.  I love berries.  Logan, Tay, Ollalie, Rasp, Salmon, Thimble, Black Cap, Boysen, or  Marion... All the bramble berries are all delicious in their own way.

The Marionberry is a hybrid black berry created by crossing the Chehalem blackberry and the Ollalieberry at Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon. Due to the extensive testing of the berry within the Willamette Valley, when the berry was released in 1956 it was named after Marion County, as opposed to being named after Mr. George F. Waldo who was responsible for creating the initial hybrid in 1946.

Marion berries are a wonderful example of traditional hybridization, bringing the best attributes of the parents into one single berry (the flavor of the Chehalem and the production of the Ollalie). Though as intoxicatingly delicious as the Marionberry is, it may carry some latent genes from the parents of the Ollalie, which is itself a hybrid (Loganberry and Youngberry) developed in 1937; again at Oregon State University, but due to Oregon weather patterns, is much better suited to Northern California.  But enough about the Marionberry's "family bramble".

I get fairly touchy about my Marionberries (having been bereft of them for 13 years in San Diego) for they truly are the fine wine of the berry world.  Deep, rich, tart and earthy, like a fine Pinot Noir.  I prefer them in as unspoiled a preparation as possible. (kind of like my Huckleberries)  I am sure that at some point in the future, now that I am back in Oregon, I will get use to having them around again and may begin experimenting.  But for now...  K.I.S.S. is my phiosophy. Thus, I kept it simple by turning to David Lebovitz's recipe for an unassuming Crème Fraîche Ice Cream, to be served with fresh Marionberries from the Farmer's Market.  Sort of a frozen Berries and Cream.

And lemme tell ya this, about that.  The ice cream is positively the most incredible scoop of deliciousness you will ever taste and fully capable of standing alone on it's own merits.  But even better is the fact that the inherent "nuttiness" of Crème Fraîche is the perfect counter point to the tart zip of the Marion's.  I swear I could hear angels weeping for joy as I consumed it with great abandon.

Crème Fraîche Ice Cream with Marionberries

1 cup Whole Milk
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
pinch of Kosher Salt
5 large Egg Yolks
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract (enough to enhance, not to actually flavor)
2 cups Crème Fraîche
Fresh Marionberries 

Begin heating the Milk, Sugar and pinch of Salt over medium heat in a medium saucepan.

Meanwhile, separate the Egg Yolks into a medium bowl and break them up with a whisk.

When the Milk/Sugar reaches about 155 -160 degrees (cause you don't really need it too hot) remove the pan from the heat and begin pouring the hot milk slowly over the beaten yolks, while continuing to whisk.

Pour the resulting mixture back into the sauce pan and return to medium heat.

Whisk the soon to be custard until it begins to thicken slightly... about 170 degrees or until it coats the back of a spoon and leaves a clear line. (you know the drill)

Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the tiny amount of vanilla. (that is the little bitty brown spot)

Strain through fine mesh into a bowl to arrest the cooking.

Cover on the surface with plastic wrap to prevent crusting and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and whisk in the Crème Fraîche.

Cover on the surface again and chill again for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instruction. (Usually about 20-30 minutes)

Spoon into a chilled container and freeze completely.... (about 4 hours)

Now for the topping.....

Some lovely Marionberries from the Farmers Market...

Do you hear the angels weeping?  I do. 

Oh wait! that's me.  Cause my bowl is empty.  hmmm

Mangia!!
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Back in Black - Blackberry Millefeuille with Maple Crème Fraîche

Muscovado....  The word sounds like a breed of duck, but it's really much more sexy than that.  (though I must admit that a Muscovy duck dinner IS pretty sexy)  Especially when one finds said sexy sugar for a miniscule amount of cash.  Yes, I found "my find" the other day at Whole Foods (or should I say Whole Paycheck?) on sale for a paltry sum that seriously had me doing a double take in the isle before grabbing my prize and heading with great haste for the check out before someone decided it was mis-marked, thus bursting my excitement bubble and sending me careening down a depression spiral that could only result in my utter devastation as I sat, cold and alone in my muscovado-lessness...  a hem..  Yeah.. OK, moving on....  ;)

Muscovado sugar is one of those odd ingredients that professional pastry chefs have ready access to, but is seldom within the reach of us common folk.  Or if it is, it's exorbitantly priced.   So what is this "oh so special" sugar?  Well, in essence it's really nothing more than a form of brown sugar; it even comes in light and dark varieties.  But looks can be deceiving.  Muscovado is a little more grainy than "normal" brown sugar.  It is also minimally processed so it retains more moisture and more trace minerals along with the natural molasses.  All these factors mean that it tastes slightly different from your "run of the mill" brown sugar which is refined white sugar with molasses added back in in varying amounts.

The refining process for Muscovado is different too.  Once the juice has been wrested from the cane by pressing, the slurry is cooked slightly, then impurities are removed in a strange process that utilizes Coconut milk and Lime juice...  evidently these react with the impurities and form a foam that can be skimmed off, leaving the rich delicious cane elixir behind.  (See what I mean about he sugar being kind of sexy?)

So in honor of this sexified sugar product from Barbados,  I decided on an equally sexy dessert that I saw Laura Calder make on her show, French Food at Home. I have mentioned Laura Calder's show before.  French Cooking at Home (Food Network Canada) is currently shown on the Cooking Channel. In her recipe for Blackberry Millefeuille she makes use of Maple sugar. Sadly, I live on the West Coast and there are no Sugar Maples here.  I mean, I know one place that carries it on a seasonal basis, but I can't afford it.  It's like Beluga Caviar, nice to dream about having, but more than likely will never happen.  OK, I did have some once, (Maple sugar, not Beluga) but only through a similar pricing fluke like my Muscovado "find".  Alas it has been gone for years now.

SO, armed with Muscovado as a substitute as well as some homemade Crème Fraîche, I embarked upon a super sexy dessert.  Oh, and in case you were wondering about the Browned Butter, I thought it's inherent nuttiness would pair well with the hazelnuts.

 Blackberry Millefeuille with Maple Crème Fraîche

Adapted from Laura Calder's French Food at Home
4 sheets Filo pastry (or 2, cut in half, depending on the size of your sheets)
3 TB Beurre Noisette (browned butter)
4 tsp light Muscovado Sugar
3 TB finely chopped Blanched Hazelnuts
1 1/4 cups Crème Fraîche
Maple syrup, just enough to lightly sweeten (preferably Grade B, but Grade A is fine)
1 lb Blackberries

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C and grab 2 baking sheets and two pieces of parchment paper.

Chop the Hazelnuts finely.....

And make some Beurre Noisette and allow it to cool slightly.

Lay 1 sheet of filo on your work surface and brush gently with Beurre Noisette.

Sprinkle with some of the Muscovado sugar.

Top that with a scattering of chopped Hazelnuts.

Place the second filo sheet over the nuts and repeat (Butter, Muscovado, Nuts, Filo) until you have 4 layers of filo.

Grab a SHARP knife or pizza cutter, slice the sheet into 12 rectangles.(about 2 inch by 4 1/5 inch)

Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet,

cover with another layer of parchment,

Nest an additional baking sheet over that (this will keep the filo flat)

Bake until golden and crisp, about 7 - 10 minutes.

Move to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Spoon the Crème Fraîche into a medium bowl. (store bought or homemade, your choice)

Whip the Crème Fraîche with 1-2 tsp Grade B Maple Syrup until soft peaks begin to form.

On a dessert plate, place 1 rectangle of filo.

Spoon a small amount of Mapled Crème Fraîche over.

Nestle the Blackberries into the Crème Fraîche.

Spoon a small amount of Crème Fraîche over the berries (this will make the top piece of filo stay in place).

Place another rectangle on top of the Crème Fraîche and press gently to adhere.

Serve within 1 hour of assembly, as the filo will begin to absorb moisture from the Crème Fraîche and become soggy.

Mangia!!
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