I made some cheesecake for Cherry Cheesecake bombs and I had some filling leftover.  I decided to make this AMAZING ice cream. I decided to use a buttermilk base and it was perfect - the tang from the buttermilk with the cheesecake bites- PERFECT. I'm really enjoying being "back" in the kitchen lately and experimenting and coming up with fun things to try. 

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla paste/1vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla

7 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar, I used Vanilla Bean Specialty Sugar - you can use a cup, I just don't prefer things overly sweet

2 cups buttermilk

Maraschino cherries roughly chopped(with some juice reserved)

Vanilla bean cheesecake chunks  (I'll post that recipe soon also)

Graham cracker pieces- I gave the girls the option of graham crackers or oreos. They chose graham- I'm glad

Freeze the cherries and cheesecake in a single layer.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In a heavy bottom sauce pan stir the vanilla into the heavy cream. Bring it to a simmer.

Temper the cream and yolk mixture. I can't stress this enough. Be patient unless you want scrambled eggs. To temper add a little bit of cream to the yolk mixture and stir it. Add a little more and repeat to bring the yolks up to temperature and then add all the yolk mixture to the cream.

I put some cherry juice into the buttermilk. Stir it up and add it to the cream mixture. Transfer to a container and cool in the refrigerator.

Follow the instructions for your ice cream/gellato maker. Right before it's done stir in the yummy goodness that's in the freezer along with the graham crackers. Transfer it all to a container and finish freezing it.

Can it get any easier?