Tropical Ginger Ice Cream and Happy New Year

Happy New Year. May 2021 bring to you sanity and light, hope and happiness, and most of all, good health. When the heat is on here in the tropics, and it sure is now, we all yearn for ice cream. Everyone in our family loves ginger, and when Mr. HRK suggested to No. 1 daughter when she was home on holidays, that we make some ginger ice cream, she sprang into action.

Using the stem ginger I made earlier in the year, and our home grown fresh ginger, this ice cream was ready in 24 hours. It was the creamiest, zingiest (is that a word) and most ginger flavoured ice cream we could manage. Believe me my friends, this is heaven in a bowl. For my stem ginger recipe click on this link. This ice cream is perfect for New Year and holiday celebrations. Change the flavouring if you must, but treat yourself to some homemade ice cream, there will be no going back once you have.

Ingredients:

2 cups thickened (heavy) cream

1 cup full cream milk

2/3 cup caster sugar

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole clove

4 large egg yolks

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 tablespoons finely chopped stem ginger and 1/4 cup stem ginger syrup

Method:

1. In a medium sized saucepan, combine the cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, clove and the salt. Bring to a simmer and scald to  70-75 deg. C, 160-170 deg. F.,  testing with a thermometer to ensure correct heat,  and add the grated ginger, and let that steep for an hour and slightly cool. (Fresh ginger can curdle the milk if the milk isn't scalded.)

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the steeped cream mixture into the yolks, then whisk yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the cream. Return the pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until  mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 75 deg. C or 170 deg. F. on a cooking thermometer.)

3. Strain through a fine-mesh colander into a bowl. Cool the mixture  to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in a chilled ice cream machine, according to manufacturers instructions, adding the stem ginger during the last few seconds of churning.

Swirl the ginger syrup through the ice cream.

Store in the refrigerator in a covered container until ready to eat, or serve straight from the machine for a soft serve.

Serve with extra chopped ginger and syrup if that is what you like.

My batch of stem ginger in syrup

Warm wishes and Happy New Year,

Pauline