Little Ivy Cakes

LAVENDER ICE CREAM

I am not CRAZY!...... about lavender but, it's slowly beginning to grow on me.
This ice cream really turned out quite lovely!
I think I tried making something before with lavender but I did't encorperate it correctly and I probably added too much lavendar that resulted in a "soapy" flavor. This time I used a couple culinary lavender tips from a friend who has much experience and love for these dainty little flower buds. She has made some awesome stuff...like...lavender lemon shortbread cookies, and  lavender mojitos.

Tips learned:
1. A little lavender goes a long way: A light and gentle hint of lavender is much better than a strong chemical-tasting blast of lavender.
2. Chop up buds into smaller pieces instead on using the whole flower
3. Blend lavender in sugars, salts, or make a simple syrup that you can THEN use to cook or bake with
or now that I think of it, Stef over at Cupcake Project did a butter infusion with lavender HERE.

So, Amy came over and we had the ice cream with her homemade strawberry-lavender jam she so graciously gave me*YUM*. The combo of the tart jam and sweet creamy lavender was really something special. It made us think that lemon curd would be an even more amazing ice cream "over-the-topper".

Try the simple recipe and enjoy. It took me an hour to prep and 20 minutes to churn the next day. The batch made about 5-6 servings.

Ivy's Original Recipe

What you need:

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp culinary lavender flower buds

1 cup milk (I use 2%)

2 cups heavy cream

contents of 1 Red Lavender tea bag (or 1 tsp chopped lavender)

1 tsp lemon zest

1-2 spots of Wilton's Violet concentrated gel coloring

(Add color if you want a violet ice cream. Otherwise ice cream will have a cream color)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste(or extract)

5 egg yolks

+1-2 tbs lemon zest

What to do:
-Separate your yolks from the whites and place in a large mixing bowl

(large enough to hold your whole ice cream custard batch)

-In a food processeor mix sugar and 1 tsp lavender. Set aside

-Heat milk, cream, Red-Lavender tea bits, and lemon zest on medium-low heat for about 10 minute, stirring occasionally until little bubles start to appear. Turn off heat and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain and put some tea-bits back in cream if you want some to speckle your ice cream. Set aside

-Whisk egg yolks, lavender sugar, and vanilla bean paste until a dull yellow color

-Add 1/2 cup of your heated cream to the yolks and whisk

-Then slowly add the remaining cream mixture and return to the sauce-pan.

Constantly whisk to prevent burning, simmer for 10 minutes or until it coats the back of a wooden spoon and is custard ready.

-Add in violet coloring to your liking and mix well.

-Transfer custard to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to prevent a top-scum from forming. Chill overnight or at least 4 hours.

-Chill an empty bowl in the freezer that will hold your finished ice cream

-Add your chilled lavender custard and churn according to your ice cream maker's instructions
-Add 1-2 tbs lemon zest at this time to the churning ice cream.

-Transfer ice cream into the freezer-chilled bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to prevent ice crystals. Chill in freezer for at least a couple hours to set.

Serve with lemon cookies if you have them Or make ice cream sandwiches.

THE END!