Cherry Sploosh Ice Cream

St. Louis in July: With the heat index above 110 degrees, it's too fucking hot to cook. Hell, it's even too hot to eat. Or move. Or breath. So, I've been sustaining myself with fruit smoothies, salads, sandwiches, and ice cream. Here's my most recent creation:

Sour Cherry & Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

aka "Cherry Sploosh"

 For the cherries:

2 cups sour cherries, pitted & roughly chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

• Mix the cherries, sugar & water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the juices are thick. Remove from heat & cool. Strain out liquid. Reserve both the cherries and the syrup.

For the ice cream:
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup cream in a medium saucepan just until the sugar melts & the mixture is steamy.
• Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. 
• Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then add the custard back to the saucepan.
• Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, heat over medium heat until thick enough to coat the spoon. 
• Strain into a bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup of cream, the vanilla, and the reserved cherry syrup. Cool in an ice bath or in the refrigerator until ready to churn.
• Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker.
• While the mixture is churning, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. 
• During the last possible moments of churning, drizzle the melted chocolate in a very thin stream into the ice cream. 
• Remove the ice cream to a bowl and fold in the reserved chopped cherries.

Why "Cherry Sploosh"? A few reasons, actually...

1. Sploosh is a funny word.
2. You add a lot of stuff to this standard vanilla ice cream base. That is, you sploosh in some cherry syrup, melted chocolate, and chopped cherries.
3. This: