12 October 2006

Honey-cinnamon ice cream

I find it somewhat ironic that I've timed this post to coincide with our first snowfall of autumn. No, it wasn't purposefully done, today just happened to be the day where winds were whipping snowflakes so hard you really couldn't see across the street. I don't know about you, but I think it's perfect ice cream weather...but then again...when is it not perfect ice cream weather?

I told you how
this year's Thanksgiving pie came to be, and in that post, I mentioned the embellishment I added: honey-cinnamon ice cream.

Way back when I used to make ice cream on a regular basis I made an absolutely wicked honey ice cream that was smokey-sweet. I wanted to capture it's essence, but not in a cloying, insipid way. I also wanted something that was reminiscent of Greg's cinnamon ice cream. I write "reminiscent" because I find their version far too cinnamonny for my taste.

So, off I went to develop a frozen treat that was neither too sweet, nor too spicy. What I came up with was an ice cream that was the most comforting shade of taupe, speckled with the occasional fleck of warm reddish-brown. The taste is a deep sweetness that isn't overpowering that finishes with a bit of cinnamony taste. Because I used 18%, 35% and 40% cream, it was very, very rich.

As much as I like this ice cream, I don't think it can attain "star billing" as a dessert. It's a great accompaniment to pies--apart from the apple and pumpkin, I can see it working well with peach and bumbleberry--and most likely any dense and richly flavoured cake or pudding, such as gingerbread, fruitcake or Christmas puddings.

Honey-cinnamon ice cream

Makes about 1 litre.

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
90 ml (about a third of a cup) runny honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
500 ml (2 cups) half and half (18%)
125 ml (half a cup) double cream (40%)
125 ml (half a cup) heavy cream (35%)
icing sugar (as necessary)

  • Heat the half and half until it simmers and set aside.
  • Whisk together the eggs, honey, vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly incorporate the hot milk into the sweetened eggy mixture while whisking constantly.
  • Move the bowl to the top of a pot of boiling water (yes, this is a makeshift double boiler) and stir until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
  • Remove the custard bowl and plunge it into a basin of very cold water (keeping care to not let the water get into the custard).
  • When the mixture is cool, whip the heavy and double creams together until you can get firmish peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the custard. Give it a taste. If you would like it sweeter, seive as much icing sugar into the custard as you wish and carefully mix it in so as to not lose all the air bubbles in the mix.
  • Transfer to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Notes:

  • Not everyone can get 40% cream, so if you can't, simply use one full cup of heavy cream.
  • You technically don't need the double boiler, if you are confident enough in your custard-making abilities, you can just set the custard in the milk pan and light a low flame and keep on stirring (this is what I usually do).
  • If you wind up with scrambled eggs, you can seive the mixture into a bowl to break up the custard. Quite honestly, I've had this happen and the solid bits are so creamy, no one noticed them in the ice cream (or at least no one mentioned them).

cheers!
jasmine

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11 comments:

Sam said...

I love cinnamon ice cream, yum! 40% cream, mmm.

Anonymous said...

Only you could make me crave ice cream on a cold day like today!

Lovely!

Anonymous said...

Ice cream...this flavor sounds so good!

Brilynn said...

I'll all for ice cream any time of year too... even as I watch the snow swirling outside... sigh...

Sara said...

This sounds completely delicious. And snow! Poor you, although it's in our forcast for Sunday.

Anonymous said...

i love ice cream and miss seeing snow.

enjoy both!

blue plate

Anonymous said...

I have always been intrigued by cinnamon ice cream but never made it. It sounds delicious. I might try my hand at it soon.

jasmine said...

Hello all

Sam -- 40%...definitely 40%...

Ivonne -- You are quite dear :)

Kat -- It really was quite nice...there's very little left now.

Brilynn -- I remember hearing a while ago that Canadians, as a whole, eat the second most ice cream in the world...I can believe it...

Sara --Yes snow..and it stuck over night...and it was whizzing by today too...I needed my extra warm jammies...

BP --I think I'd miss snow if it went away...with global warming, it might happen within my lifetime :(

Helene -- I think the tricks with cinnamon ice cream is not to overdo it with the spice and if you are using the pre-ground kind, to make sure you make a slurry with it with some of the milk or cream as there can be cornstarch in the mix...

j

Anonymous said...

In rebuttal...

As a lover of all things cinnamon-y, I must disagree with my most wonderful darling's statement that this is an ice cream that cannot stand on it's own.

It most definitely can, and if she feels otherwise, I have a freezer just waiting to give the unwanted foodstuff in question a place of honour all it's own. (For the very little time it would last over here!)

Ta,

TFE

Anonymous said...

Mmmm cinnamon ice cream with apple pie....yum.

Lis said...

Love, love, LOVE this combination. I've always been a cinnamon addict and recently I can't get enough honey.. so I'm tickled you posted this icecream.. thank you =)