Three Berries Valentines Ice Cream

If you are looking for an awesome-looking dessert for this Valentine's season (yes, I call it season, as we usually start talking about it least two weeks before the day), here's a good one. You can write your valentine's message on top of it and erase it with the bottom of a spoon, so to re-write your love again.

I prepared it with third-graders at school on Friday and the reviews were passionate: "Oh, it was looking yuk and now how beautiful this is," said an animated girl, going for her second serving. Others were puzzled about how easy ice cream making is and how beautiful the color of the mix of three berries was. Some girls were dressed in the same color and so proud about their choice for the day...

We puréed the fruit compote together, and stirred the condensed milk in turns. The ice cream maker did the rest. Our class was mainly about freezing, as I go more with the science of cooking for the older children, while my other son and his friends in first grade are more into the adventures of cooking.

If you are looking for more ideas for a full meal with your Valentines, here are some from our kitchen:

Bella Note Red Sauce
Pasta with Passion Sauce
Strawberry Spinach Salad

Three Berries Valentines Ice Cream

The ideal is to prepare the fruit compote the day before making it in the ice cream maker.

2 cups fresh strawberries, stems removed, halved
1 cup blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup apple juice, unsweetened
1 envelope agar agar or unflavored gelatin
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Combine the fruits and apple juice in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, half-covered with a lid. Sprinkle gelatin on top and let sit a few minutes, then mix it in and let it cool down. Transfer to the freezer. After about 6 hours, remove and blend it (I used a hand blender) with the condensed milk.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and follow your maker's indicated time for a creamy and firm texture. Mine took about 25 minutes.

Another option is to transfer the mix to fancy cups and freeze it for up to 2 hours, enough to be able to write your message on it!