Cherry almond ice cream

Cherry almond ice cream
From "Ice Creams" by Hamlyn

Ingredients
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup ground almonds
1 egg plus 1 egg yoke
1/2 cup superfine sugar (if you don't have any, just grind it in the food processor, which you'll have to get out to deal with the cherries anyway; it helps with the texture)
2 to 3 drops almond extract
1 pound pitted red cherries
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted and cooled
2/3 cup whipping cream

Method
Heat milk and ground almonds in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then set aside.

Put egg and egg yoke in a heatproof bowl or top of a double boiler. Add sugar and beat until pale and thick. Stir in the milk mixture. Place bowl over simmering water and stir until thick. (This took roughly forever.) Add almond extract and set aside to cool.

In food processor, puree cherries. Stir into cooled mixture. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight before processing in an ice cream maker according to instructions. Stir in toasted slivered almonds and freeze.

To serve, let soften slightly on the counter before dishing up. This will make it easier and the flavor comes through more as it softens slightly.

Rating: When I saw this recipe I was really prepared to like this. Then I went to the trouble of making it and was really prepared to be disappointed, because it was such a pain and I wasn't sure how the almonds were going to work out texture-wise. Still not sure where I come down on the aggravation to flavor verdict, but it's definitely tasty. This recipe claimed that it took 20 minutes of prep time, plus cooling and freezing. Clearly, they aren't counting the time it takes to pit cherries, grind almonds, etc. They also claim it serves 6, and that's actually realistic.