Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream Food

FRESH SPEARMINT ICE CREAM

Steps:

• 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. Reserve ice-water bath.
• Puree mint and milk in a blender until mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add cream, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium bowl.
• 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. (Do not let the mixture come to a simmer.)
• Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on mint to extract liquid. Set bowl in ice-water bath. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container, and freeze until firm, about 4 hours (or up to 1 week).

STRAWBERRY-MANGO ICE CREAM WITH FRESH SPEARMINT

Steps:

• Pour half-and-half into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Continue to heat until half-and-half is hot, but do not let it come to a boil.
• Whisk egg yolks in a small bowl until pale yellow.
• Slowly add about 1 cup of the half-and-half mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Repeat with another cup. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining half-and-half mixture and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Do not let the mixture boil.
• Remove from heat and stir in spearmint and coconut extract. Pour mixture into a bowl with a pour spout and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight.
• Pour 1/2 of the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn to the consistency of soft-serve. Add strawberry puree. Continue to churn until ice cream has thickened. Transfer ice cream to a bowl and clean out the ice cream maker with a rubber spatula. Place strawberry ice cream in the freezer.
• Pour the remaining ice cream base into the ice cream maker and churn to the consistency of soft-serve. Add mango puree. Continue to churn until the ice cream has thickened.
• Remove strawberry ice cream from the freezer. Place a large scoop of strawberry ice cream in a 9-inch loaf pan using 2 large spoons. Top with a large scoop of mango ice cream. Fill up the loaf pan, continuing to alternate flavors. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours.