Black Truffle Ice Cream

Name: Black Truffle Ice Cream
Yield: 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 egg yolks; 90g castor sugar (3¼oz/5 tablespoons); 310ml full cream milk (1¼ cups); 20g black truffle (¾oz); 250ml single cream (1 cup), chilled

One of the best ice creams I’ve ever tasted was made by Tim Pak Poy at Claude’s in Woollahra in the early 2000s when Australia’s first truffles were harvested. It was flavoured with violets and black truffle. Inspired by the memory of that dish, this is my simplified black truffle ice cream, sans violets. The base for traditional French ice cream is a simple custard (crème Anglaise). I add the truffle at the last minute and let it steep in the warm custard so none of its volatile aroma is lost. You can buy a small truffle online from around $75 (with delivery) from Fish River Truffles near Bathurst (use code Roberta20 to save 20%). If you don’t have any truffles (or violets), use this recipe as a base for ice cream flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon or any other spice. As their volatile components are hardier than those of truffles, add them to the milk when heating it, set the heated mixture aside to infuse for 30 minutes, then reheat and remove the spice before adding it to the egg mixture. It’s important when making custard that you stir constantly over a low enough heat to create a smooth sauce rather than scrambled eggs (see video below for a step-by-step guide). Because they’re both such wonderful winter treats, I often serve my black truffle ice cream with poached quinces. A glass of Pikes First Cut dessert riesling from the Clare Valley takes the combination to the next level, and is just as delicious with either the quinces or the truffle ice cream on their own.

Serves 6–8 (makes about 800ml)

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
90g castor sugar (3¼oz/5 tablespoons)
310ml full cream milk (1¼ cups)
¼ cup glucose syrup (60ml)
20g black truffle (¾oz)
250ml single cream (1 cup), chilled

Method

Place egg yolks and half the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk until it’s pale and thick enough to momentarily hold the shape of a ribbon of mixture trailed across the surface.
Meanwhile, combine milk, glucose and remaining sugar in a heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat and bring to a simmer.
With the mixer running on a low speed, slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture; I find this easiest if I first pour the milk mixture into a jug.
Whisk just long enough to thoroughly combine.
Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into the saucepan and stir constantly over a low–medium heat for about 5 minutes, without boiling, until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat and stir for another minute or so to ensure it’s cooled a little.
Grate in the truffle, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Stir in the cold cream, transfer to an ice cream machine and churn until thick.
Transfer black truffle ice cream to a container, press a cartouche cut from baking paper onto the surface, cover and place in the freezer until needed.

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Crème Anglaise (Custard)

What Other Food & Wine Lovers Say

Had so much fun at the truffle forage weekend. Loved meeting truffle farmers Lisa and Carmine, and Frank was such a beautiful hard working truffle puppy. Everyone seemed to get into it, with soil sniffing and digging like kids in the dirt for our buried treasure. The final lunch was a beautiful way to end the weekend. Food was amazing and plentiful. The dining room was a great shape and size to relax and share our thoughts on the adventure we'd had.

The truffle forage was an unforgettable weekend. It’s obvious the winemaker, restaurants and the truffle farm pulled out all stops for Roberta’s tours. The meals were feasts, winemaker tapped barrels for us, and we dug for and found plenty of truffles at the truffle farm. The other travellers were great company.

I went on Roberta's truffle weekend. She was amazing – great communication skills, friendly and knowledgeable. The truffle forage hosts were lovely with a wealth of knowledge and experience. The truffle dog was gorgeous, we found lots of yummy truffles and were given a generous discount on purchases at the end plus a gift of some truffle salt. Meals were amazing, lots of truffle at dinner and so many delicious dishes at lunch. We were well looked after. This was a well thought out and planned weekend and I would definitely do it again.

The recent Be Inspired truffle foraging weekend was a superb experience in a friendly environment. We met welcoming, informative and knowledgeable producers and enjoyed memorable meals with other food and wine lovers. Beautifully organised. Roberta's expertise in bringing together producers, winemakers and chefs provides a delightful experience for anyone who enjoys food and wine.

Our small group was expertly guided through some of the best places in the Hunter Valley by super host, Roberta. Thank you Roberta for such a great weekend of food and wine and the enthusiasm and knowledge you brought to our group. I had a beaut time learning lots of new things in great company and can't wait for the next experience.