For my last birthday, a (very generous) friend got me the ice cream maker that fits onto a Kitchen Aid mixer. I was thrilled to receive it, but then tucked it at the top of my kitchen cabinet and left it to languish for more than a month. My excuses were many, included the fact that life got busy, I didn't have room in my freezer to chill the bowl and I just didn't have any good recipes for ice cream.
However, in my travels through the many food blogs out there, I kept hearing about a book that contained fantastic and tasty recipes. The pictures and tales people posted tempted me out of my ice cream apathy, I ordered the book (David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop) and started my own experimentation with the wonders of homemade ice cream. My most recent batch was the Fresh Ginger Ice Cream (on page 43), and let me tell you, it was fantastic. I took it to dinner with friends, and at the end of the night I ran my finger around the bottom of the container in a vain attempt to grab the last few drops. The recipe is after the jump.
photo by Marisa McClellan
3 ounces of unpeeled ginger
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
Cut ginger into thin slices. Place the ginger in a medium, nonreactive saucepan. Add enough water to cover the ginger by about 1/2 inch and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain, discarding the liquid.
Return the blanched ginger slices to the saucepan, then add the milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar and salt. Warm the mixture, cover and remove from the heat. Let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
Rewarm the mixture. Remove the ginger slices with a slotted spoon and discard. Pour the remaining cup of cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice maker according to instructions.
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