Flowers – Sweet Notes and Tips

My first taste of lavender ice cream was at The Bent Spoon, a fantastic sweet spot in downtown Princeton, New Jersey. The adventure probably encouraged me to start making my own ice cream – it was sooooo good! Check out their website here: http://www.thebentspoon.net (and if in doubt, read the Yelp reviews!)

Given my recent adventures with rose water ice cream, it was only a matter of time before I tried my hand at another flower flavor – this time lavender! I will be upfront about this – unlike the flavors of rose water ice cream, lavender ice cream can be very strong – so not a food for everyone! But I am a huge foodie (no surprise there) and thus up for trying anything…

Epicurious have some great recipes, so I used the lavender ice cream recipe that I found on their website. Here it goes!

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup honey (preferably a milder kind)
2 tablespoons dried lavender
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon of salt (just a dash of salt!)

Instructions

Put the cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender in a saucepan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from the heat (keep it covered), allowing it to steep for 30 minutes.
Pour the cream mixture through a sieve into a bowl and discard the lavender. Put the mixture back in the saucepan (clean it first) and heat over moderate heat until hot.
Whisk the eggs and salt together in a separate bowl, then add a cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture, whisking at the same time (this tempers the mixture so the eggs do not curdle).
Pour the rest of the egg mixture into the saucepan, whisking. Allow the mixture to cook on low heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Pour the custard mixture through the sieve again into a bowl. Allow the mixture to cool in the bowl (covered) for several hours in the fridge.
Put the mixture in the ice cream maker for 20 minutes or until it has finished churning. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze completely in the freezer.

I LOVE making ice cream, so if anyone has an ice cream idea they would like me to find a good recipe for – please let me know!