Harold McGee Lecture Series – Ice Cream

A recent work project has me making ice cream!  A recipe for homemade honey ice cream is offered below.

I wish I could use liquid nitrogen as it is far more dramatic. I don’t even know where to begin on this part of the lecture series as I was so mesmerized by the liquid nitrogen.

Harold McGee started off with a brief history if ice cream along with a sample of what would be considered the first ice cream. Click here to read his account and technique for making “instant ice cream.”  Dave Arnold’s raspberry concoction was made by pouring in liquid nitrogen.  It was part of his quest to try and replicate Salep dondurma – or Turkish ice cream.

This unique frozen concoction has a secret ingredient that is illegal to take out of Turkey, it is so highly revered and impossible to reproduce commercially. To read more about it click here.

In the course of my research, I rediscovered one of my favorite Saveur articles on the world of ice cream.  It was published back in 2001. Coming up with the flavors and making them outstanding for a commercial package is harder than you think.

Ice cream always tastes unbelievably the best just after it’s been processed. Still gooey and nicely chilled, the texture is dreamy and no commercial ice cream can come close to the almost chewy texture.

Once ice cream firms up and sits in the freezer, it changes in flavor as well as in texture. I love my Cuisinart ice cream maker and once you make ice cream, like most things, it gets easier and easier and more fun to do as you become less intimidated by the process and more creative.

And if you don’t even want to bother with making the custard, Kim’s No Cook Vanilla from July 2009 is fantastic.

This recipe – however is slightly old school. It does require making a custard. I recommend a nice clover or star thistle honey. Creamed honey would also work nicely but anything darker would be a bit overbearing.

You can easily make this into cinnamon ice cream by replacing the honey with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Serve it with the Mexican Chocolate Sauce featured a few weeks back.

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Honey of a Honey Ice Cream
It really helps to have a candy thermometer so that you don’t over cook the eggs.

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup honey

In a heavy bottom an heat the cream and milk and bring to almost a boil. In a another bowl whisk together the honey and the eggs. Using a ladel, slowly pour some of the hot milk mixture into the eggs while whisking.

Keep pouring until all the milk is gone and the eggs are “tempered”. Return mixture to the pot and cook on moderately low heat until the thermometer reads 110 degrees. Stir constantly and do not allow the mixture to boil, this will cook the eggs. If you don’t have a thermometer then you can tell when the custard is ready when it coats the back of a spoon

At this point, remove from heat and pour the custard into another bowl (If you are nervous about having cooked the eggs, pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve).  Allow to cool completely.

You can speed this process up by placing the bowl into a ice water bath and stirring occasioanlly to release some of the heat. I like to refrigerate my custard for a few hours before processing. Usually I make the custard the day before want to have homemade ice cream or at least in the morning.

Process according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Once it comes right out of the ice cream maker, I think it’s perfect to eat. It is also the best consistency for making ice cream cookies, cakes and for filling roulades.