I first started making ice cream, as mentioned previously, by following the recipes in The Perfect Scoop and the Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book towards the end of my law school years. And so I was blithely content to merely reproduce other people’s recipes until, about a year after I graduated and was living in D.C., a friend asked me to come up with my own flavor.

Scott once made the mistake of telling me that as a kid he was nicknamed Scooter, and because, like Dubya, I love nicknaming my friends, I have referred to him as Scooter ever since. He suggested I try my own flavor, and I asked him what he wanted. “I don’t know, goat cheese and some kind of fruit?” And thus the first flavor was born. Thanks brah. I wouldn’t have done it without you.

Scooter’s Blackberry Goat Cheese

2 cups cream

2 cups whole milk

1 ½ cup sugar, separated in two ¾ portions

3 egg yolks

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon table salt

8 oz goat cheese

12 oz blackberries

1 teaspoon lemon juice

 

Place goat cheese and 1 cup milk at the bottom of a large bowl with a strainer positioned above. Whisk to combine 2 cups cream, 1 cup milk, ¾ cup sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium pot. Heat over medium heat, whisking frequently, but don’t let it boil.

Whisk three egg yolks in a medium bowl. It’s OK if there are some traces of egg white — no need to be a perfectionist — but try to minimize that.

When the dairy mixture is hot but not yet simmering (honestly, if it starts to simmer a little, you’ll be OK), remove from heat. Slowly ladle about a cup into the egg yolks, whisking with one hand while ladling with the other to temper the yolks.

Once complete, transfer the yolk mixture to the pot, and then return to medium heat. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom at times. Once the custard is thick enough to slightly coat the back of the spatula (another sign: you will start to notice that scraping the bottom of the pot encounters some solid residue), remove from heat and pour through the strainer.

Wash the whisk off. Once the base has strained, whisk the base with the goat cheese mixture that’s at the bottom until combined. Place the bowl in an ice bath to cool for thirty minutes (if you’re too lazy, it’s ok to just do this on the counter). Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for at least two hours before churning.

Place ¾ cup sugar, blackberries, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in a pot over medium heat. Stir until blackberries disintegrate and sugar has dissolved into mixture. Strain, discard solids, and let compote cool. If it is too viscous after cooling, add a little water to thin it out.

When ready to churn, whisk the mixture to reincorporate the base. Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the instructions. Place one third of the compote at the bottom of the container you plan to freeze the ice cream in, then add half the ice cream. Add another third of the compote, then the remaining ice cream, then the final third of the compote. Freeze for eight hours before serving.