Cherry Ice Cream

3/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup rum

21/2 cups light cream

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Place the cherries in a bowl and cover with rum. Allow to soak for several hours or overnight.

Heat the light cream and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and bubbles begin to form around edge of the pot. Whisk yolks until creamy. Add 1/2 cup of the warm cream to the egg yolks. Pour the warmed yolks back into the half-and-half and continue to cook, stirring, until the custard mixture coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil the mixture or it will curdle. Stir in the vanilla, allow to cool completely, then chill.

Pour into the ice-cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Drain the cherries. When the mixture begins to thicken as it freezes, add the cherries and freeze until ice cream is the proper consistency.