Ingredients

For the ice cream base
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sweet cream shortcakes (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup cherry swirl (recipe below)
For the shortcake biscuits
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (or add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt to 1 cup all-purpose flour and whisk well to combine)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
For cherry swirl
• 1 cup pitted cherries (I used frozen)
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions

Make your ice cream base:
1. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside (this will be your ice bath)
2. In a small bowl or ramekin, mix 1/4 cup of heavy cream with the cornstarch and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese and salt together until smooth.
4. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the remaining cream with the sugar and corn syrup until it comes to a boil.
5. Boil the mixture for 4 minutes and remove from heat to whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return the saucepan to heat and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened (about 20 seconds).
6. Gradually whisk the cream mixture into the cream cheese until smooth, then stir in the buttermilk.
7. Pour mixture into a 1-gallon ziploc bag and submerge in ice bath about 30 minutes.
8. Transfer the ice cream base to the refrigerator until you are ready to churn your ice cream.
Make the shortcake biscuits:
9. Preheat oven to 450F and line a 8 inch baking pan with parchment.
10. Pulse flour, sugar, and butter in a food processor until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Add cream and pulse just unti lthe dough comes togehter.
11. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it together.
12. Fold the dough over itself, gently kneading, few times until it is no longer clumpy. Spread/press dough into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown on top.
13. Allow to cool completely, then crumble shortcake until you have 1/2 cup of biscuit crumbles. Set aside.
14. You will have a lot of shortcake left over. (What a problem to have!) I cut mine into individual servings and wrapped them and put them in the freezer for when the urge for shortcake strikes.
Make the cherry swirl:
15. Combine cherries, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil about 5 minutes until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently.
16. Remove cherries from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
17. You have the option to drain and/or puree the strawberries, I left my sauce as-is and just didn't add all of the liquid when mixing the cherries into the ice cream.
Churn and assemble the ice cream:
18. When ready to churn, pour ice cream base into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.
If making pops:
19. Layer into ice pop molds (ice cream, cherries, biscuits, repeat) starting and ending with the ice cream. Leave 1/4-inch gap at the top of the ice cream molds (it will expand when it freezes). Top with lid and insert popsicle sticks - freeze until completely solid.
20. You will have extra of everything - I layered my extra into a smaller storage container and had scoopable ice cream as well (hooray!)
21. To remove mine, I wrapped whatever popsicle I was removing with a damp warm towel and wiggled until the popsicle came free.
If making standard ice cream:
22. Layer ice cream into storage container, layering with biscuits and cherries. Press parchment paper onto the top and cover with lid. Place in freezer and freeze until firm.

Notes