Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Recipe 14: Lavender Vanilla Ice Cream

*Note: Sorry I missed updating this one!  I had an extremely hectic week preparing for a presentation and a few things had to slide.  I didn’t even get to make ice cream last week!  I’ll try to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Monday, March 16, 2015

            It has long been my dream to try lavender ice cream.  I don’t remember where I first saw it or when I first heard about it, but for several years now I’ve really, really wanted to try lavender ice cream.  It just seemed like the height of gourmet ice cream, what you could eat when you’d made it in the world.  It would be sweet and a little flowery but delicate and extremely creamy.  And, of course, it would be lavender-colored.
            If you’ve ever had lavender ice cream, you know that I was in for a disappointment.  Lavender ice cream is not lavender, and lavender tastes like medicinal flowers.  The flavor is strong and astringent, and if you don’t much care for the taste, it’s hard to eat.
            So, obviously, Lavender Vanilla Ice Cream was not my favorite ice cream.  It came out perfectly, well set, rich and creamy, but I just don’t like the taste of lavender.  The recipe comes from Lindsay Clendaniel at Scoop Adventures, which you can find here.  Also, if you search for “lavender” on her web site, you’ll find that she REALLY likes lavender.  Despite my dislike of lavender, I still want to try some of her recipes, especially if I can get fresh lavender instead of dried (which is what I used this time).  So you might get another disappointed recipe in the future.
            That being said, if you like lavender, you should try this recipe.  Like I said, it came out perfectly and the flavor isn’t too strong – just prevalent.  So if lavender’s your thing, give it a try.
Now for the recipe that crushed my dreams.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 Tblspn + 1 tspn of cornstarch
  • 3 Tblspn cream cheese, softened
  • 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
  • 1 Tblspn dried lavender
  • 2/3 cup cane sugar
  • 1/8 cup corn syrup
  • 1 8” vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (Madagascar vanilla preferred)
  • 1/8 tspn kosher salt 
Directions
  1. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of milk with the cornstarch.  In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.  Set both aside.
  2. Combine the remaining milk with heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup, dried lavender, and vanilla beans and seeds in a large saucepan.  Bring milk mixture to a boil.  Cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves – 4 minutes (time it to get the correct consistency).
  3. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture.  Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened – about 1 minute.
  4. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture through a sieve into the cream cheese and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in salt.  Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
  5. Chill the base thoroughly (at least 4 hours or overnight).
  6. Once chilled, pour the base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Freeze until firm – at least four hours.
            Since making this recipe, I’ve seen a few others that I think I might prefer, ones that include honey (to dull the astringent taste), fresh lavender (maybe it’ll be less harsh?), and food coloring (to get that lavender color that I always wanted).  Like I said earlier, I’m willing to try a lavender-flavored ice cream again – just don’t expect one until lavender comes in season in a couple months.

Overview
  • Base prep time: 30 minutes
  • Base chill time: 4 hours (preferably overnight)
  • Ice cream set time: 4 hours (preferably overnight)
  • Taste: very rich with a strong, almost perfume-y flavor of lavender, which is a pretty astringent
  • Difficulty level: low to medium (the corn syrup means eggs aren’t needed)
  • Expense level: low to medium (lavender is surprisingly cheap)
  • Makes: 4 cups (1 quart)


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