Honey Ice Cream

I mentioned I was reading Keeping Bees with Ashley English. Well, my boys couldn't help but be excited about all the bee books around, and Jonas found the recipe for Honey Ice Cream in the recipe section of her book. He wouldn't let us forget about it, so this week we made a batch of backyard honey ice cream.



It was absolutely delicious, as homemade ice cream always is. And it is made with only natural ingredients and honey as the only sweetener. I love when food can be so real, and so delicious.



Honey Ice Cream Recipe:
2 cups milk
2/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla

  Note: This is a custard-type ice cream which uses eggs, the eggs are heated on the stove top and need to be chilled completely before attempting to freeze into ice cream, so prepare the mixture in the morning, or the night before you want to freeze it.

Heat the milk over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes. Whisk in the honey and salt. Beat the two eggs in a small bowl. Temper the eggs by slowly pouring 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the eggs while quickly stirring. Once they are mixed together you can pour the eggs mixture into the pot of milk without the eggs curdling. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.

Allow mixture to cool completely. Then chill thoroughly, 8-12 hours.

Prepare ice cream freezer. Pour in milk mixture, vanilla and cream. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.

Ice cream always comes out of the mixer a bit of a soft-serve consistency, if you prefer harder ice cream, transfer to a chilled freezer-proof container and freeze four hours to harden.

Enjoy!

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

 Labor day gave us occasion for the bi-annual church picnic and dessert contest.  This time it was a homemade ice cream contest.  I decided to try and come up with a s'mores ice cream recipe.

My first thought was using marshmallow cream.  When I looked on the internet for inspiration I found two different methods for marshmallow ice cream, and both started with actual marshmallows.  One version melted them with milk, and the other version put them in a blender with milk.  I opted for the melting type--it seemed more "s'morey."

 I used the recipe for marshmallow ice cream here, but toasted the marshmallows first like this custard-style recipe to add to the fire-cooked s'mores flavor.  

The marshmallows are then melted into the milk mixture before churning.

In the end the marshmallow ice cream tasted pretty good, I used whole milk and cream--2 cups of each, but I really felt like the marshmallow flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked.  Next time I would lower the amount of cream to one cup.  Then it would be the same proportions of milk and cream in our Lemon Basil Ice Cream  (which was the other entry we took to the picnic) then hopefully there would be a less-diluted marshmallow flavor. 

 The other important elements of a s'more are the graham cracker, and the chocolate.  So I thought I would put in crumbled graham crackers, and then either chocolate chips or fudge or both!  But then my mom noted that the graham crackers would get soggy--drat.

I realized that dipping the graham crackers in chocolatewould create a sogg-proof protection for the crackers.  I just melted some chocolate chips in a bowl and stirred in the crackers and spread them out on a sheet. 

 The boys oversaw Jeremy and the ice cream churn.  The marshmallow milk mixture had set up again in the fridge so it was in a more frothy marshmallow top layer and a milk later underneath.  We just dumped it all in and assumed it would get mixed up fine in the 30 minutes of churning. 

 The chilled chocolate-coated-graham-crackers waited.

We folded them into the finished marshmallow ice cream and hardened the whole batch in the freezer. 

I had a lot of fun tinkering with the idea and coming up with a delicious final product.  Jeremy and my ice creams both brought home awards.  Afterwards Jeremy said he doesn't think we should enter the contest next time because we always win and get attention for our sometimes "out there" entries.

So I kind-of see his point, but at the same time I LOVE this kind of thing.  I was scheming for the three weeks after they announced the contest until the picnic day.  And it's not like Jeremy and I are professionals or anything, we're just food enthusiasts.   

So what do you think?  Keep at it, or "let the other girls have a chance to exhibit!"?

Orange Sherbet

Owen has been obsessed with an idea lately.  We try to encourage any interest the boys show towards food or cooking and Owen was obsessed with making homemade orange sherbet.  We watched Alton Brown make it on Good Eats and since then Owen asked about it almost daily.

I cannot even describe how delicious it turned out.  It tastes so orange and the flavor is so clear.  As I was eating it I was thinking about how so many people and us included just don't even know what the "real thing" tastes like.  And I wondered if we sat a bunch of people down in a room and fed them the real thing if they wouldn't just instantly be converted to real food because they simply hadn't known what they had been missing?

Unfortunately for some people their taste buds have been assaulted with too much added salt, and too much added sugar, and too many artificial "natural flavorings"  for so long they can overlook real food upon first re-taste.   But I've seen my homemade chocolate pudding rock people's worlds before, and I'm going to bet that this orange sherbet would do the same.

It sure rocked mine.

Orange Sherbet Recipe

7 ounces sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice, (2 to 3 pounds oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups very cold whole milk

In the bowl of a food processor combine all of the ingredients except the milk and process until the sugar is dissolved, approximately 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and whisk in the milk. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F or below, approximately 1 hour. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream. You may serve now or transfer to a lidded container and place in freezer until firm, approximately 3 hours.

SERVES 8 (1/2 cup serving);

Lemon Basil Ice Cream

Basil is one of the fragrant joys of summer time. When I saw this recipe for lemon basil ice cream I was intrigued,and knew I had to find the opportunity to make it.

The ice cream did not disappoint, with clean crisp flavors, and creamy texture. It's a new favorite.

2 c. milk
1 bunch basil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 lemons (zest only)

Simmer the milk with the basil over low heat until the basil leaves wilt and turn brown. Remove from heat and strain the milk removing the basil. Mix in the sugar while the milk is still warm and then refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Put the milk and cream in the freezer for about 10 minutes so it will be ice cold for freezing. Zest the two lemons and mix with the basil-infused milk and the creamt. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the ice cream maker. Freeze according to your machine's directions.

Berry Patch Ice Cream Dessert

I hosted book club last night. I had a really hard time trying to figure out what I was in the "mood" to make, and finally settled on something I had pulled from a magazine a few years ago. It was perfect for a summer evening get together.

Berry Patch Ice Cream Dessert
From Better homes and Garden August 2001 (I honestly don't know how I have something saved from way back then.)

Begin by baking a batch of brownies. (I'll post Kara's world-famous brownie recipe another day.) Divide the batter into two 8-inch rounds lined with parchment for easy removal. The instructions say to wrap one of them up and freeze for later use--in my case I fed it to the boys of the house because I wasn't going to be sharing any of the finished product with them!

Scoop 1 to 1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream in the bowl of a mixer.

Beat just until smooth.

Fold in 1 cup of mixed berries. Spoon into a 8-inch round lined with plastic wrap. (I used a springform pan so I could get it out easily.) Freeze for at least 4 hours.

To serve place brownie round on a plate. Lift ice cream and plastic wrap from pan (or remove springform side). Invert ice cream on brownie. Peel off plastic wrap. Top with 1 1/2 cups berries. Let dessert stand at room temperature 10-15 minutes before serving.

Slice into wedges like a pie, and--if you like--serve with raspberry or chocolate syrup to drizzle.