Berries and Sweet Cream

Recently we had some friends over for dinner, and I was looking for something for dessert that would be fairly easy and yet light (since it's so hot outside).  While looking for ideas on one of my favorite websites (www.thepioneerwoman.com) I found this one.  I'm so glad I did, it was perfect.  It did take a little bit of preparation but ended up being exactly what I was looking for. This sweet cream would be perfect with any fruit, but I think next time I'll try some blackberries, or raspberries so they grip even more cream. Yum!

Start with a pint of heavy cream in a medium sauce pot.

To the cream, add 1/2 cup of sugar. Heat the cream and sugar up to just before the boiling stage (do not let it boil).

Get familiar with a carton of eggs, you'll need 10 yolks.

Add the yolks to the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

More sugar here please, this is sweet cream after all.

Take the hot cream and slowly add it to the eggs.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm letting the cream drip down the side of the bowl so it cools slightly before hitting the egg.  We don't want cooked eggs here, yuck. Put your mixer on low for this and keep going until all the cream has been added.

Pour the cream mixture into a double boiler (or a heat safe dish over a pot of simmering water) and stir constantly until it's thickened slightly.  You're going for a consistency much like melted ice cream, or a slightly runny pudding.

Once it begins to thicken, remove from the heat.

Put the bowl in an ice bath being careful not to let any of the ice or water in the cream mixture.  If you need to serve this quickly, you'll want to keep stirring this until its chilled.  If you can, it's best to refrigerate the mixture for a couple of hours or even overnight.

Serve with any fruit, be generous with the cream.

You can find this recipe here:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/blackberries-with-sweet-cream/

Here are the ingredients you'll need:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar, divided
10 whole egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
fresh berries

Combine the cream and the sugar in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and heat to the point just before boiling.  Do not boil this mixture.

Put 10 egg yolks in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer (or do by hand) with a whisk attachment, or hand held whisk. Add the other half of the sugar and the vanilla and mix until blended.

Pour the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture making sure to go very slowly so the eggs don't heat up too quickly.

Once the cream is incorporated, pour the mixture through a strainer (I didn't have one so I skipped this step) into the top of a double boiler or a heat safe bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir frequently until the mixture begins to thicken.  Do not let the mixture get too thick, you want this to be pourable.

Place the bowl with the mixture into an ice bath being careful not to let the ice or water get in the cream mixture.  Stir until it begins to cool.  Ideally you'll want to refrigerate this for at least 2 hours, but if you're in a time crunch you can just keep stirring it in the ice bath until it's cooled completely.

Enjoy!