Recipe 36: Cardamom Ice Cream

For this week’s recipe I was looking for something relatively simple and inexpensive, and while cardamom is actually a very expensive spice, I just so happened to have some from a recipe I did a few months ago, Chai Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream.  So Cardamom Ice Cream it is!

Cardamom is a spice from the ginger family with a really unique but indefinable taste.  It’s sort of spicy and acerbic but also flavorful and mild.  It’s used in a bunch of different foods from coffee to cookies to curry.  It pairs really well with other sweet food spices like cinnamon and cloves.

I liked this recipe because it was just what I wanted – relatively simple and inexpensive but still good.  The sweetened condensed milk helped smooth out the ice cream, making it sweet and slippery, while the cardamom flavored it pleasantly, making you think you were consuming a milk tea.  It’s a pretty mild and inoffensive flavor and is something you can eat without thinking.  I actually felt very soothed while eating it and just gobbled it up almost without realizing it.  Definitely a win.

Ingredients

• 2 cups half and half
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom (freshly ground is best but not required)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

1. Place the half and half, condensed milk, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the cardamom in a small pan and cook over low heat, whisking from time to time, until it’s warm – about 5 minutes (Don’t let it burn!).  Once warm, remove from heat.
2. Next, mix together the egg yolks, last 2 tablespoons of the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a small bowl.  Whisk until completely mixed.
3. Start adding the warmed half and half mixed into the egg yolk mixture ½ a cup at a time, whisking continuously.  Add about 1 ½ cups of the half and half mixture.
4. Return the egg yolk/half and half mixture to the pan and cook over low to medium heat until the base thickens.  You’ll know it’s done when it can coat the back of a spoon.
5. Strain the mixture into a metal bowl, discarding the solids, and set aside until it reaches room temperature.
6. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Once chilled, pour the base into the canister of a chilled ice cream maker and freeze according to directions.
8. Once churned, transfer the ice cream into a covered container and freeze until firm – at least four hours or overnight. 

The resulting ice cream is soft, sweet, and pleasantly spiced.  It can melt fairly easy, making it imperative that you eat it as soon as you can (but why wouldn’t you want to?) and would be an excellent addition to a fall cobbler or pie (or with a warm cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa).  And, best of all, there are no little tweaks that you need to make to this recipe – just whip it up and enjoy!

Overview

• Base prep time: 20 minutes
• Base chill time: overnight
• Ice cream set time: at least 4 hours
• Taste: thick and creamy with a pleasant but indefinable spice taste
• Difficulty level: low
• Expense level: medium (cardamom is expensive)
• Makes: about 4 cups