Pear-Ginger Ice Cream

Last week I bought some pears for a salad and had two left over. They have been sitting on my counter getting progressively riper. I could just eat them, but I think I’d rather make ice cream. Especially since I’m sitting at home on a Friday whilst all of my friends are two miles away watching The Streets*.

Ice cream solves almost everything.

Pear-Ginger Ice Cream

1/2 cup whole milk
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of cinnamon
2 large pears
crystallized ginger
gingersnaps

1. Put the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn off. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from inside; add to the milk along with the pod. Cover and remove from heat; let infuse for a half hour.

2. Set a strainer over a bowl set in an ice bath and pour the cream into the bowl. Peel one of the pears and puree in a food processor (or press through a sieve). Set aside.

3. In another bowl (ice cream = a million dirty bowls) lightly beat the egg yolks. Remove the vanilla pod from milk and reheat. Pour some of the milk into the yolks to temper them, whisking constantly. Add the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

4. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula – about 170 degrees F.

5. Strain the custard into the cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, pear puree, and bourbon, then refrigerate to chill completely. I usually do this overnight, it helps the ice cream freeze better/faster in my cheapo ice cream maker.

6. Freeze in your ice cream maker.

7. While it’s churning, peel and chop the other pear. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Dice the crystallized ginger and mix with the pears. Crush the gingersnaps and add to pear/ginger mix right before you gently swirl the mix into the frozen ice cream.

Notes: Add as much ginger as you like. I find it overpowering so I used two tablespoons at most. I also used turbinado sugar instead of white sugar to give the custard a bit more depth.

* I’m recovering from surgery and couldn’t imagine standing up for five+ hours, protecting my incisions from ebullient elbows the entire time. So I’m sitting this one out. And that’s okay, I’ve seen them before. But it’s been a very long time. Oh well.

Advertisement

Explore posts in the same categories: recipes

Tags: dessert, fruit, ice cream

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.