ginger spice ice cream: recipe no. 3

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Ginger Spice Ice Cream, makes about 1 quart

I have to admit that I'm getting ready to move beyond this section of the Cookbook Challenge. Don't get me wrong, I love ice cream. But, making it with eggs? Not so much. I first learned how to make ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home and, see, Jeni doesn't use egg yolks. And, if you read what happened to me with Recipe No. 2, you'll understand why I'm itching to move beyond eggy ice cream bases. 

Buuuut since I'm not one to back down from a challenge-- at least not a dessert challenge-- I started in on Recipe No. 3, the Ginger Spice Ice Cream. And, thankfully, my perseverance paid off! First, you'll note that there's a crazy amount of spices in this recipe. I had to search out star anise and couldn't find it ground, so had to whip out our spice grinder. I also had to buy some whole nutmeg. Could you use already-ground nutmeg? Yeah, probably, but it might not taste as good. If you can swing it, buy some whole nutmeg and use your microplane to grate it. It smells delicious. If you're making this recipe in the Fall, make yourself a warm latte and sprinkle the extra freshly-ground nutmeg on top. But, I digress... the result of this spice-rack of flavors is a warm, gingerbread, very Fall-holiday appropriate delicious ice cream. Don't get me wrong, this ice cream is amazing.... A-MAZE-ING.... but you'll love it and appreciate it more if you make in November or December. It's not quite the palate cleanser light thing you're craving on a hot day in June.

That said, make this ice cream at Thanksgiving this year and you will WIN Thanksgiving. Hands down. Victory will be yours.

  • 2 cups heavy cream (480 grams)
  • 1 cup whole milk (340 grams)
  • 1/4 cup honey (80 grams)
  • 1 TBSP molasses (25 grams)
  • 1 6-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
  • 7 large egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (75 grams)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon (2 grams)
  • 1/4 tsp ground star anise
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt (2 grams)

Gently heat the cream, milk, honey and molasses over medium heat for about 4 minutes until the liquid is steaming. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate your ginger into the hot cream. Stir and remove from the heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

While your cream-ginger mixture rests, prepare the ice bath for cooling your ice cream. 

Next, whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper, cloves and salt. Give it a good whisk...  because of the brown sugar and other spices, it won't lighten up as much as the egg yolk-white sugar mixture you used in your creme anglaise or vanilla ice cream, but you should still whisk it until you see trails forming in the mixture behind your whisk. 

After the cream-ginger mixture has rested 10 minutes or so, it's time to temper the eggs. Pour half of the warm cream into the eggs, mixing until fully-combined. Now pour all of the tempered egg mixture into the remaining cream-ginger mixture. Over medium-low heat and stirring constantly, bring the mixture to 180 degrees F. Don't have a thermometer handy? Over medium-low heat, I've found this takes between 10 and 15 minutes. You'll know you're there or nearly there when the liquid is hot to the touch. You can also dip your spatula into the liquid, hold it horizontally, and run your finger across the middle of the spatula. Does the cream stay put, leaving a clear trail where your finger has wiped? It's done!

Strain the ice cream through a fine sieve and let it rest in the ice bath until it is cool to the touch, stirring occasionally. Cover the mixture with saran wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight to let the flavors really develop.

Spin the ice cream down in your ice cream maker and let the ice cream sit in your freezer for at least 4 hours before serving. It's best within the first week, staying nice and creamy. It still tastes amazing after a week, it just might be a little icier. But, I challenge you to keep this in your freezer for more than a week. Why not serve it in gluten-free waffle cone?

SURVEY SAYS...

GINGER SPICE ICE CREAM -- Recipe No. 3
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: easy.. once you track down all the spices
WOW FACTOR: wowee! (You will impress anyone who tastes this! And, like I said, make it at Thanksgiving and you will win.)