You might have figured out by now–although this is only my second post–that flowers play an important part of what I think of when I think of romance. The way they look. They way they smell. And yes, even the way they taste.
It might be odd to find a recipe featuring ice cream in November. But if you think about how heavy many of our menus are during this month, it isn’t that surprising that something that’s light and refreshing might hit the spot. When holiday meals become too much, grab your special someone and share lavender ice cream… right out of the tub.
It’s really rich, so like the best of things, small amounts go a long way. And a shared delight is just that much better.
Lavender Ice Cream
6 egg yolks
2 cups half and half 1 cup cream
2/3 cup vanilla sugar
1 vanilla bean
3 whole lavender tops or 2 tbsp dried lavender- be sure to use organic, food grade
1. Prepare a water bath in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, heat half & half with the cream and the vanilla bean pod denuded of its interior until it simmers. Take off heat and add in the lavender to steep. Set aside until almost room temperature, about 45-60 minutes. When the time has lapsed, strain the mixture and bring it back up to temperature- just short of simmering again. Take off the heat. *Pro-tip: Frozen foods need more flavor for it to come through the freeze. So taste the cream mixture. It should taste fairly strong. Don’t be alarmed. Once the ice cream is fully frozen, the flavor will have mellowed out. In fact, with any flavoring that you add to ice cream or any frozen dessert, it’s best if the flavor is pretty strong prior to freezing to get the best flavor.*
3. Mix egg yolks until lighter in another bowl. Add in vanilla sugar and the scraped out insides of the vanilla bean. Mix well. Temper the eggs with some of the cream mixture until the eggs are brought up to the same temperature as the cream mixture. *tempering of the eggs is why you brought the cream back up to temperature in the last step* Pour it all into the saucepan. Heat over medium-lowish heat for about 2-3 minutes or until it coats the back of a spoon or it reaches 170 degrees.
4. Pour the mixture back through a fine mesh strainer into the egg/sugar bowl and put it all into the water bath. Bring the custard down to room temperature as quickly as possible. About 30-45 minutes. Put it into the fridge uncovered until it no longer forms condensation. Then cover and let sit in fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight.
5. Put into ice cream maker and follow the instructions for the machine.
This ice cream is particularly delightful with sugar cookies made with rose sugar or orange sugar.
Enjoy!
~D
