We’re still on an ice cream kick as summer is winding down. This week we made Rosemary-Orange, Vanilla and Peach ice cream. Guess which one is my favorite? As usual it’s the herbal ice cream!
For this version I use the same creamy rich custard base as the Basil and Lemon ice cream. We use our fresh goat milk so we use much less cream than the original recipe.
Here is the original custard recipe. This will make about a quart, but we triple it for about a gallon of ice cream.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
3 large or extra-large egg yolks
to this we’ll also add
2 or 3 4-inch sprigs of Rosemary
A few strips of orange peel- Save a few little strips of the outer orange part if you plan to leave some of the grated/blended peel in your finished recipe.
How To:
Combine the whipping cream, milk, sugar, lemon peel and basil in a large sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and then remove from heat. Rub the rosemary between your fingers and twist the orange peel a few times to release more flavor and drop them both into the milk. Let the herb and orange peel steep in the cream/milk mixture for 30 minutes. Strain off any skin that has formed.
Reheat the mixture over low heat.
Lightly whisk the eggs in a small bowl and slowly add about 1⁄4 cup of the warm milk mixture to the eggs- whisking all the while. If you don’t do this you will have yellow cooked egg yolks in your ice cream!
Now add another 1⁄4 cup of the warmed mixture and whisk again. We’re just heating the yolks so they can be added to the hot milk mix without cooking!
Pour the egg yolk and milk/cream mixture into the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard lightly coats a metal spoon. This takes about 5 minutes.
You can strain off the orange peel and Rosemary now and discard the leaves. You will also have some little lumps from the eggs so make sure you strain the milk mixture before the next step; freezing your ice cream!
If you want the pretty little flecks of green rosemary and bits of orange peel, blend a few fresh rosemary leaves and a strip of orange peel with a little of the milk mixture. Add it back in to the rest of the milk mixture and stir well.
Cool the mixture before freezing.
To chill the mixture faster set the pan in an ice bath, stir the mix and change the ice water when the ice melts and the water gets warm.
Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker, according to your ice cream freezer’s directions. If you don’t have one, no worries.
Hold on to your hats because you do NOT NEED A FREEZER to make these herb ice creams!
Pour the chilled ice cream mix into a baking pan and pop it into the freezer. Pull the pan out every hour or so and beat well with a fork or hand mixer. Remember to scrape down the sides then pop the pan back in the freezer for another hour or so. After several hours the ice cream will become thick and hard to mix or beat. At that point you can let it rest and continue freezing. It’s not quite as creamy as the machine version, but it is still SO good you won’t care.
Now enjoy your ice cream!