Sweet Science - Strawberry Mascarpone

Strawberry Mascarpone - Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream

Today we return to the Saint-Paul-based Sweet Science brand for one of their summer flavors:  Strawberry Mascarpone.  Strawberry is a good summer flavor as Strawberries are in season.  In fact, the full moon for June (just last week on June 27th) is traditionally called the Strawberry Moon.  Strawberries have a very strong flavor and a lot of ice creams try to cut the flavor with something else.  I've seen cheesecake (twice), shortbread, buttermilk & balsamic and even tarragon.  In this pint the choice is mascarpone.  Mascarpone is a probably my favorite dessert cheese.  It is great by itself, but it is also ideal for dealing with very strong or sweet flavors.  I've seen this used with strawberry before (although with chocolate in the mix as well).  The most interesting use of mascarpone that I've seen is with balsamic fig.  I am looking forward to this simple strawberry and mascarpone blend.

The top of the pint is a nice light pink color.  The strawberry and mascarpone are fully blended into a homogeneous ice cream (no chunks or swirls).  The first spoonful is very flavorful.  The strawberry is refreshing -- a nice mix of lightly sweet and lightly tart.  I can tell the flavor has been muted a little bit by the mascarpone but I do not specifically taste the mascarpone which by itself has a fairly distinctive flavor.  A close look at one of my spoonfuls shows a few strawberry seeds in there.  This is quite delicious.

This is a simple and very successful pint of strawberry ice cream.  The mascarpone that is blended in gives it a subtle and more nuanced flavor than the usual strawberry ice cream.