Here it is, toward the end of summer, and after the nice Asian-influenced dinner the other night, I wanted to serve something with a slight Asian flavor. Ginger ice cream came to mind. Immediately I went to my favorite ice cream cookbook – The Perfect Scoop, by David Liebovitz. If you’re interested in other food blogs and want to read a very entertaining one, you might check out David’s blog. He’s an American, worked for some years at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters’ famous restaurant in Berkeley, California. Then he moved to Paris, and it’s from his small apartment there that he wrote this most recent ice cream cookbook.

This ice cream has more cooking steps than many – certainly more than my very favorite lemon velvet ice cream that I make now and then. And it took longer to make everything than I’d hoped. But in the big picture, it was worth the effort, to get that very smooth and subtle ginger flavor without adding the straight stuff into the custard.

After performing all the steps (blanching the ginger, steeping it in milk, thickening it up with the egg yolks to make a custard, chilling it in an ice bath, then freezing it in the ice cream machine) I thought it needed just another little boost of ginger flavor. It was not in Liebovitz’ recipe, but I added crystallized ginger to the finished product. Providing the crystallized ginger is minced into itty, bitty pieces, it freezes nicely, providing a little ginger burst. I also substituted some of Trader Joe’s fat-free half and half for the milk and cream. Not only does it lower the richness, but it makes the scooping of the hard-frozen ice cream easier. There must be something in that product that makes a softer finished product. I don’t know what it is, but every time I do that, it’s easier to scoop. Home made ice cream has that fault – if you will – that with using the pure, unadulterated cream and milk, when it’s frozen, it’s f-r-o-z-e-n. Hard. Normally I have to leave the container out for 10 minutes or so to even begin to scoop a serving.

When you serve this, don’t overwhelm it with other prominent flavors (like a chocolate chip cookie) as the ginger flavor really is very subtle. You want to savor it. Enjoy.

Ginger Ice Cream with Crystallized Ginger
Recipe: Adapted slightly from the book, The Perfect Scoop, by David Liebovitz
Servings: 10
3 ounces fresh ginger — unpeeled
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger — very finely minced
1. Cut the ginger knob in half lengthwise (makes it more stable for slicing) and then cut into very thin slices. Place the ginger in a medium, nonreactive saucepan. Add enough water to cover the ginger by about 1/2 inch and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain, discarding the liquid.
2. Return the blanched ginger slices to the saucepan, then add the milk, 1 cup of the cream, sugar and salt. Warm the mixture, cover and remove from the heat. Let steep at room temperature for one hour.
3. Rewarm the milk mixture. Remove the ginger slices with a slotted spoon and discard. Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
5. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
6. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When completed stir in the crystallized ginger and transfer ice cream to a freezer container. Freeze thoroughly before serving.
NOTES: I substitute some fat-free half and half for both the cream and milk. About half the real stuff, half the fat-free.
Per Serving (assuming you use all cream and whole milk): 284 Calories; 21g Fat (65.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 175mg Cholesterol; 50mg Sodium.
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