Homemade Lavender Honey Ice Cream

For the past week, I've been teasing you by telling you and showing you this delicious lavender honey ice cream. It tastes so much better than I ever imagined. It's heavenly and ice cream will never be the same again. I'll just have to make this ice cream about once a month. Ha! This recipe came about during my week of being sick. I watched It's Complicated on repeat the entire week it seems like. Sidenote: I just love that movie. I secretly dream of owning Meryl Streep's house and her instagram-worthy bakery. Anyway, it seems like even when you are sick inspiration can find you in a refreshing way. If you watched the movie you may remember she serves this ice cream as dessert. And since I have been on a lavender kick lately, actually since I tried the lavender latte in Charleston last year, it just sounded lovely and perfect for Valentine's Day coming up. After searching the internet for a recipe that seemed relatively easy, but also delicious, I settled on a David Lebovitz recipe from his book The Perfect Scoop. And if you have never made homemade ice cream, then I recommend you read Lebovitz' tips before attempting this.Lavender Honey Ice Creamyields about 1 litreIngredients125ml (½ cup) good quality honey8g (¼ cup) dried or fresh lavender flowers {I found them at Fresh Market}375ml (1½ cups) whole milk50g (¼ cup) sugarPinch of salt375ml (1½ cups) heavy cream5 large egg yolksPurple Food Color, optional {see note below}Method1. Heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the lavender in a small saucepan. Once warm, remove from the heat and set aside to steep at room temperature for 1 hour {I did half hour}.2. Warm the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.3. Pour the cream in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.4. Pour the lavender-infused honey into the cream through the strainer, pressing on the lavender flowers to extract as much flavour as possible, then discard the lavender and set the strainer back over the cream.5. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.6. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.7. 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.8. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the heavy cream. If you are adding food color, add it now until it becomes the color shade of your choice and whisk well.9. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons lavender flowers and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator.10. The next day, before churning, strain the mixture, again pressing on the lavender flower to extract their flavor.11. Discard the flowers {if you follow steps 9 and 10}, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.Serve on petite picardie tumblers or scoop in waffle cones. It would be the perfect dessert to make on Valentine's Day for your special someone.NOTEI skipped steps 9 and 10. After completing step 8, I froze the mixture in my ice cream maker. This ice cream will yield a soft yellow color. I added purple food color to make it a vibrant lilac. I used Betty Crocker's Neon Gel Food Color. Adding the food color will delay the freezing time of the ice cream. Once you complete the cycle in the ice cream maker, place it in your storage container and let it sit overnight in the freezer so that it hardens well.

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The Perfect Scoop | Ice Cream Maker | Ice Cream Storage Tub | Petite Picardie Tumblers | Ice Cream Scoop

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