Gingervanilla Ice Cream Food

CHUNKY GINGER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Bring milk, cream, 1/2 cup sugar, fresh ginger, and salt to a gentle boil over medium heat; turn off heat.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar on medium-high speed until thick and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add half the milk mixture to egg-yolk mixture; whisk to blend. Stir into milk in pan; cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, and place in an ice-water bath to chill, stirring often. Stir in candied ginger, vanilla, and lemon juice. Freeze in an ice-cream maker, following manufacturer's instructions. Serve topped with candied ginger strips, if desired.

VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH LITCHIS AND CRYSTALLIZED GINGER

Steps:

• Drain litchis from syrup into heavy small saucepan. Place litchis in medium bowl. Add orange slices to syrup and boil until syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove orange slices from syrup. Pour syrup over litchis. Mix in Cointreau and ginger. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Scoop ice cream into bowls. Spoon litchis and syrup over.

GINGERSNAP ICE CREAM SANDWICH

Steps:

• For the ice cream: In a large saucepan, bring the cream, milk, half of the granulated sugar, the fresh ginger and candied ginger to a boil. Remove from the heat and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Bring the mixture back to a boil.
• Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and remaining sugar until light and pale. Gradually add the hot dairy mixture to the yolks, whisking constantly. Continue tempering until the dairy mixture (including the solids) is fully incorporated.
• Dump the mixture back into the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium heat, until thick and the mixture can coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl set over an ice bath and discard the solids. Stir frequently until mixture cools completely, about 1 hour.
• Cover and chill the ice cream base in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• Process the chilled ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Freeze the ice cream in the freezer until firm, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a small baking sheet with plastic wrap. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter at medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and continue to mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and salt, and mix until incorporated.
• In a measuring cup, mix together the molasses and vinegar, then add to the mixer and mix at medium speed until incorporated. Add the candied ginger and fresh ginger and mix until fully incorporated, about 2 minutes.
• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. With the mixer running on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.
• Place the dough on the plastic-lined baking sheet, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill the dough until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Scoop the cookie dough with a 2-tablespoon scoop. Roll half of the dough balls in granulated sugar and roll the other half in turbinado sugar. Place the dough balls on the parchment-lined baking sheet (about 48 cookies in total) and bake until the cookies are just set, 8 to 12 minutes. The cookies will crackle on top.
• Pull the cookies from the oven and firmly tap the baking sheet on a solid surface to deflate the cookies. Cool completely on the sheet tray.
• Scoop some ice cream and sandwich between a granulated-sugar-coated cookie and a turbinado-sugar-coated cookie. Repeat for the remaining cookies and ice cream. Serve immediately or store the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer until ready to eat.

GINGER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a large bowl lightly whisk yolks. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook sugar, fresh gingerroot, and water over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add half-and-half and bring to a simmer. Add hot half-and-half mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170°F. (Do not let boil.)
• Pour custard through a sieve into cleaned bowl and stir in cream and vanilla. Cool custard. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 3 hours, and up to 1 day.
• Finely chop crystallized ginger. Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker, adding crystallized ginger three fourths of way through freezing process. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM BASE

Steps:

• To make the vanilla ice cream: Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large pot. Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor.
• In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes.
• Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 4 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.)
• Pour the vanilla custard through a fine strainer into another pot* and chill completely in a sink full of ice, stirring here and there; this should take about 1 hour. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker to improve the flavor and texture of the final product ¿ but it is still good if you decide to process it right away. Divide the ice cream into quarts** and churn each in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. When done, the ice cream will be the consistency of "soft serve." ***To harden the ice cream fully, freeze in plastic covered containers.
• Flavor Variations:
• *To make the Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: Heat 3/4 up of milk in a pot over medium-low heat. Add 12 ounces of the chopped chocolate and stir until completely melted. Pour 1 quart of the strained hot vanilla ice cream base into the melted chocolate and stir until very well incorporated. Chill and process as directed in the master recipe. Fold in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped chocolate after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Churn another 1 to 2 minutes just until combined.
• **To make the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream: Mix the strawberry preserves into the vanilla custard just before you start churning in the ice cream maker. Add the pieces of strawberry cheesecake and fresh strawberries after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 5 minutes or until combined but still chunky.
• ***To make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Add the pieces of cookie dough after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 1 to 2 minutes until combined but still chunky.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put a large mixing bowl in the freezer to chill. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the half-and-half, cream and vanilla bean to a simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. When the cream mixture reaches a fast simmer turn it off, do not let it boil! In a thin stream, whisk half of it into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the egg-cream mixture into the saucepan containing the rest of the cream mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. At 160 degrees, the mixture will give off a puff of steam. When the mixture reaches 180 degrees, it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don't have a thermometer, test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready, if the edges blur, it is not quite thick enough yet. When it is ready, quickly remove from the heat. Meanwhile, remove the bowl from the freezer, put 4 handfuls of ice cubes in the bottom, and add cold water to cover. Rest a smaller bowl in the ice water.
• Strain the cream mixture through a fine sieve to remove the vanilla bean pieces, into a smaller bowl. Chill 3 hours, then freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.

GINGER/VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks, then whisk in icing sugar, 1 tblsp at a time to form a stiff meringue.
• Stir in the egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is an even gold colour.
• In a separate bowl whisk the cream till it hangs on the whisk, then fold into the egg mixture and then add the finely chopped stem ginger.
• Put into a container, put he lid on and freeze until firm 4-6 hours Makes 1.5 ltrs.
• Note: Add a little liqueur or any other alcohol to the mixture before freezing will give a softer consistency, if desired, leave out if serving for children.
• For Vanilla Ice Cream: Instead of stem ginger, use 1 teaspoon of anilla essence or replace 1 oz of icing sugar with vanilla sugar.

ULTIMATE VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put the canister from the machine into the freezer a day before you want to make the ice cream. Next day, pour the cream and milk into a medium heavy-based pan, then tip in half the sugar. Slit the vanilla pod down its length with a small sharp knife and scoop out as many of the tiny black seeds as you can into the cream mixture. Cut the pod into three and drop it into the pan.
• Heat the cream and milk over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils - you'll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and set aside for 30 minutes so the vanilla can infuse.
• Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the rest of the sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters. Using a measuring jug, scoop out about 125ml/4fl oz of the cream mixture and beat into the egg yolks to slacken them. Reheat the cream until it just comes to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.
• Return the pan to a low heat and cook, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, for 8-10 minutes, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn't boil - as soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough, so take the pan off the heat so the mixture doesn't curdle.
• Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl, then sit it in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this takes about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, so it gets really cold.
• Get the ice cream machine running, scoop out the vanilla pod pieces, then slowly pour in the cold custard. Leave it to churn for 10-30 minutes (depending on your machine). When it stops, it is probably too soft to eat, so spoon into a plastic container, cover with cling film, then a lid, and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours. (It will keep in the freezer for 3 months but don't take it out, then refreeze.) Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
• To make it by hand: in step 1, heat the milk, vanilla, and half the sugar without the cream (the custard will be slightly thicker). At the start of step 6, whip the cream so it's light and floppy, not too stiff, and fold it into the cold custard. Freeze for 3-4 hours, stirring once an hour until almost frozen, then freeze as above.

CLASSIC VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Place a container in the freezer. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape the seeds out with the point of the knife and tip into a pan with the milk, cream and pod. Bring to the boil, then remove heat and leave to infuse for at least 20 mins. For the best flavour, this can be done a few hours beforehand and left to go cold.
• In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together for a few mins until they turn pale and fluffy. Put the vanilla cream back on the heat until it's just about to boil, then carefully sieve the liquid onto the yolks, beating with the whisk until completely mixed.
• At this point, get a large bowl of iced water and sit a smaller bowl in it. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook on the lowest heat, stirring slowly and continuously, making sure the spoon touches the bottom of the pan, for about 10 mins until thickened. Strain the custard into the bowl sitting in the iced water and leave to cool, then churn until scoopable. Transfer to the container and freeze.