Untamed Ginger Ice Cream … the name says it all

On New Year’s day we were invited to attend my friend Susan’s annual Fire and Ice party. The fire being chili (she cooks up several different kinds of chili) and the ice being ice cream (each guest brings one pint of ice cream). It’s a great opportunity to try that new Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen Dazs flavor. This year I decided to make the ice cream rather than buy it. I’ve done a fair amount of experimenting over the past year with making ice cream and most of them have been pretty wildly successful. This one did not disappoint either.

This ice cream sweet, creamy and somewhat spicy … a perfect foil for the spicy chili we enjoyed. It was a big hit at the poker party Saturday night too.

Untamed Ginger Ice Cream

Adapted from: Ice Cream Mix-Ins, Jeff Keys

Servings: 6 – 8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup crystallized ginger, slivered
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 oz ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 7 egg yolks

Directions:

Make a ginger simple syrup by adding the water, 1 1/2 cups sugar and crystallized ginger to saucepan.

Stir and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Pour the whipping cream and milk into the top of a double boiler set over boiling water [1]. When the milk is scalded, a film will form over the surface.

Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, ginger root and powdered ginger.

Continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Add the egg yolks, whisking constantly (very important if you don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs swimming in gingery milk) After the egg yolks are incorporated cook for another 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently.

Remove the bowl from the double boiler and set on the counter to cool. When the mixture is completely cooled, put it in the refrigerator to chill. It must chill for at least a couple of hours. The flavor will dramatically improve if you allow it to chill overnight.

Measure out 1 cup of the ginger simple syrup. I like to add as much of the crystallized ginger pieces as possible and just fill the rest of the cup in with the liquid [2]. Strain the custard into an ice cream maker and add 1 cup of the ginger simple syrup. Stir to combine. Process the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

When the ice cream is ready, put it into a freezer friendly container and let it cure in the freezer for a couple of hours. It’s well worth the wait.

Notes:

[1] If you don’t have a double boiler, find a heat proof bowl that will fit just inside a saucepan. You can also do it directly in the saucepan, but if you do you’ll have to watch and whisk pretty much the entire time so that the custard doesn’t curdle. You get a more reliable custard with a double boiler.

[2] You can use the ginger simple syrup to make a yummy homemade ginger ale type drink by adding it to sparkling water.