Last blast of summer:
Fresh spearmint ice cream

mintyice2

We just moved house, but in our old garden, we had an entire section of mint. If you plant mint in the right sort of soil (moist, with a fair amount of sun), it will grow like gangbusters. (That word is weirdly Hudsucker Proxy. Gangbusters I tell yas!!) Basically, it will grow like well, weeds.

If so, that is a true bounty. One of the best uses for those massive amounts of mint is a fresh mint ice cream.

This is based on a recipe from Martha Stewart, but I adjusted it to my usual custard-based ice cream ratio. I like more egg yolks; it makes the custard extra smooth and creamy.

Expect a very different flavor than the mint ice cream you might buy at the grocery. I recommend spearmint for this, as it has a milder flavor than peppermint. The ice cream has huge mint flavor, but it is the herbal, slightly grassy flavor of fresh mint.

Fresh, tasty and incredibly refreshing on a hot August day.

Fresh spearmint ice cream
adapted from marthastewart.com
Makes 1 quart

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups whole milk (350ml)
2 cups heavy cream (500ml)
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar (175g)
a pinch of salt
1 cup of loosely packed spearmint

  1. Prepare an ice-water bath. Cook mint in a small saucepan of boiling water until bright green, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mint to ice-water bath. When cool, drain, and squeeze out excess water.
  2. Puree mint and milk in a blender until mint is finely chopped. (The milk will turn a pretty pale green.) Transfer to a medium saucepan, add cream, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
  3. Whisk together eggs, sugar and the pinch of salt in a medium bowl.
  4. Gradually whisk 1/3 of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, then pour egg-cream mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Set over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 8 minutes. The temperature should be between 170-180F (76-82C).
  5. Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on mint to extract liquid. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container, and freeze until firm, about 2 hours (or up to 1 week).

mintgarden