Honey Lavender Ice Cream Food

LAVENDER HONEY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Heat heavy cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender flowers in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally, until cream just starts to bubble. Remove from heat and cover; let steep for 30 minutes.
• Strain cream mixture into a bowl using a fine-mesh sieve. Discard lavender flowers. Clean saucepan and pour strained cream mixture back in. Heat over medium heat until hot, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk eggs and salt together in a bowl. Whisk in 1 cup hot cream in a slow stream.
• Pour egg mixture into the remaining hot cream in the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard coats the back of the spoon and reads 175 degrees F (80 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes.
• Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Chill, covered, for at least 3 hours.
• Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, about 20 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and place in the freezer to firm up.

HONEY LAVENDER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Bring cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
• Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.
• Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175°F on thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).
• Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.
• Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

HONEY LAVENDER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine milk, lavender, and honey. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 5 minutes. Strain mixture, reserving milk and discarding lavender.
• Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, return milk to a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
• Add half the milk to egg-yolk mixture, and whisk until blended. Stir mixture into remaining milk, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
• Remove from heat, and immediately stir in cream. Strain mixture into a medium mixing bowl set in an ice-water bath, and let stand until chilled, stirring from time to time. Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Store in an airtight plastic container up to 2 weeks.

LAVENDER-HONEY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Warm honey with lavender in a sacuepan (for best results, use one that is not aluminum).
• Taste after 5 minutes to judge the strength of the lavender flavor; if not strong enough, heat a bit longer (lavender is a very strong flavor, so be careful).
• Heat the half-and-half with cream in a saucepan (again, one without aluminum is best).
• Break up yolks in a bowl, then whisk in some of the hot cream.
• Return the yolks and cream to the saucepan and cook at low until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
• Strain nto a covered container and blend in honey (discard the lavender).
• Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, then freeze in an ice-cream maker as per the manufacturer's instructions.

LAVENDER-HONEY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the lavender; once warm, remove from the heat and set aside to steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
• Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
• Pour the lavender-infused honey into the cream through the strainer, pressing on the lavender flowers to extract as much flavor as possible; discard the lavender and set the strainer back over the cream.
• In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks; slowly pour the warm mixture (step 2 mixture) into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
• 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.
• Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
• Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons lavender flowers and stir until cool over an ice bath.
• Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator.
• The next day, before churning, strain the mixture, again pressing on the lavender flowers to extract their flavor.
• Discard the flowers, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.