Gingersnap Ice Cream

Adapted from NYTimes.com. Check out Topics: Ice Cream for more recipes.

Instead of their vanilla custard base, I used the vanilla custard recipe in the Cuisinart Ice-20 booklet. I also halved the spices, since the Times recipe is for a larger ice cream maker.

I also added crushed Sha Sha Ginger Snap cookies and it was delicious. This ice cream gets better with every bite. It's gingery but with a very fresh ginger flavor, which is very different from powdered ginger.

The one problem I encountered was that I curdled the custard. I'm not sure why, but I think I let it get to hot when I was heating up the egg/milk mixture in step 4. It certainly didn't curdle when I was tempering the eggs. It might be that all the chunky spices encourage curdling, so I'd watch it like a hawk. I did save the custard by straining out all the curds, but I ended up with about 2/3 of the liquid I started with.

1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cup milk
2 cups cream
2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tablespoon cracked black peppercorns
1/4 whole nutmeg, crushed
1 cracked cardamom pod, or a pinch of seeds
3 large egg yolks, 2 whole eggs
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dark molasses

1. Bring small saucepan of water to boil. Add ginger, and blanch for 1 minute. Transfer ginger to large saucepan.

2. Add milk, cream, granulated sugar, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and cardamom to saucepan; bring to simmer (I roughly crushed up the spices with a mortar and pestle; you want to be able to strain them out at the end so your ice cream is smooth). Turn off heat; let spices infuse for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk eggs, yolks, brown sugar and molasses.

3. To make the base, bring milk mixture to a simmer and remove from heat. Add a little hot milk mixture to yolk mixture to warm it, stirring constantly to keep yolks from curdling. Pour yolk mixture into rest of hot milk mixture, stirring constantly.

4. Return custard to stove, and cook it over low heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until it thickens enough to coat back of spoon. Remove from heat, and strain custard through fine sieve. Chill until thoroughly cold, for at least 4 hours.

5. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

This could easily be made into chai ice cream by adjusting the spice ratio. Less ginger, much more cardamom; no nutmeg, molasses or brown sugar (use more white instead). And don't forget the black tea, of course!

Guiness Milk Chocolate

7 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup Guinness Stout
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. 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 over the milk chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is melted. Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the cream, then the Guinness and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and instead of melting them in a double boiler, I melted them right in the milk. It took a while for it to dissolve, and in the end I strained the custard just to make sure there were no lumps.

The flavor is quite good, like chocolate ice cream with a little tang to it, and a slight yeastiness.

Semester Almost Over Almond Ice Cream

1 qt ice cream base
2 tsp almond extract
2/3 c roasted almonds, chopped or slivered

Add almond extract to ice cream base and freeze normally. Add almonds a couple minutes before the ice cream is finished. Make sure to chill the nuts after roasting.

I used the Eggless Base and Frontier almond extract, and the ice cream has a very strong almond flavor. It's one of my new favorites.

Eggless Ice Cream Base

3/4 c sugar
1/8 tsp guar gum
2 c heavy cream
1 c milk

Mix the guar gum and sugar and whisk gradually into the cream and milk. Transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to maker instructions. Makes generous quart.

The great thing about this recipe is that it requires no cooking and you don't have to worry about raw eggs. Also I really like the smooth texture. Do not use more than 1/8 tsp guar gum - it's very potent, and the ice cream becomes gummy if you use too much.

Update: I've also been testing eggless versions of the older recipes and posting results in the comments. So far I've done Honey Pecan and Mexican Chocolate.

Maple + Walnut - Egg

1/2 c sugar
1/8 tsp guar gum
2 c heavy cream
1 c milk
1/2 c maple syrup (the darker the better)
1/2 chopped walnuts

Combine sugar and guar gum. Whisk into cream, milk, and syrup a little a time, continue until completely blended. Freeze normally in ice cream maker, add walnuts about 2 minutes before finished, move to freezer to solidify. Grade C maple syrup is best, as it has a stronger maple flavor. If you can't find that, try for grade b or dark amber.

You can use 2 eggs instead of guar gum and prepare like the Basic Sweet Cream recipe posted earlier.

As a vegetarian I try to avoid eggs. Plus there is a risk to eating raw eggs, and cooking takes extra time. Guar gum serves as a good replacement - it is commonly used in store bought ice cream. It is even more effective than eggs at preventing ice crystal growth and slowing melting, and it adds texture.

A word of caution: guar gum is very potent. I first used 1/4 tsp, and the ice cream was almost chewy. Still edible, but not recommended. I am very happy with the texture at 1/8 tsp, but I recommend you try it out with vanilla before using it in a more expensive recipe.

The Spiceman Cometh: Mexican Chocolate

So here is the Mexican Chocolate recipe I created using a variation of Jerry's Chocolate Ice Cream. It's great because it has a rich creamy chocolate flavor with the spices on top.

2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 c milk
2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

Melt chocolate and milk together in a medium pan. When the chocolate is fully incorporated into the milk, add the cocoa powder slowly while whisking in order to avoid any clumps.

In separate bowl, whisk together:
2 eggs
1 c sugar

Add:
1 c heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Slowly incorporate milk and chocolate mixture to egg mixture while whisking. Chill. Freeze in your ice cream maker.


Warning: no matter how un-spicy the liquid mix is when you test it, it will be very spicy in ice cream form. I made the mistake of adding double the cayenne that I started out with and the ice cream is edible, but barely. Stick with the 1/8 tsp unless you want your sinuses burned out a la wasabi/chili pepper.

Honey Pecan

This turned out really well. It has a strong honey taste, cut by the roasted pecans. And the pecans aren't hard and frozen, but soft and firm. I might change the milk/cream ratio if I did it again, 2 cups cream and 1 cup milk, but that would make it really rich with all the eggs.

2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup honey
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted pecans

Put milk and honey into a medium saucepan. Stir until honey dissolves. Bring just to a boil. Meanwhile whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Slowly add 1 cup of the scalded milk and honey to the eggs. Then add milk egg mixture to the rest of the milk in the saucepan. Add the cream and stir over low heat until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Chill completely and churn.