Profiteroles With Honey Lavender Ice Cream Food

PROFITEROLES WITH HONEY LAVENDER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Make ice cream:
• Bring cream, half-and-half, and lavender just to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour through a fine sieve into a measuring cup. Whisk together yolks, honey, and Benedictine in a bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour custard into pan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 175°F (do not let boil).
• Pour custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.
• Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.
• Make profiteroles:
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Bring butter, water, sugar, and salt to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over high heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Reduce heat to moderate and add flour all at once, stirring. Cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan, forming a ball, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with wooden spoon after each addition.
• Transfer mixture to pastry bag and pipe 20 mounds (about 1 1/4 inches in diameter) about 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined large baking sheet. Bake profiteroles in upper third of oven 10 minutes.
• Reduce temperature to 300°F and continue to bake until outside of puffs are crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer profiteroles on baking sheet to a rack to cool. Increase oven temperature to 400°F and make another batch in same manner.
• Halve each profiterole horizontally with a serrated knife and sandwich a small scoop (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) ice cream between halves (or pipe it with pastry bag). Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and drizzle with chocolate sauce or honey.

PROFITEROLES WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• With a rubber spatula, scoop the pate a choux into the pastry bag and pipe out approximately 16 (1 1/2-inch rounds) spaced 1 to 2 inches apart on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with the beaten egg and place in the oven. Cook until golden and puffed, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.
• Split the profiteroles nearly in half, leaving a little hinge at the back, and cradle a small scoop of vanilla ice cream inside each. Divide the profiteroles between bowls and pour over some chocolate sauce. Serve cold.
• In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the water, salt, sugar, and butter to a boil, making sure the butter is completely melted. Off the heat, add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Return to the heat and continue beating until the dough forms a solid, smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan. Take off the heat and empty the dough into a clean mixing bowl. Little by little add the beaten eggs, beating vigorously in between each addition, until the dough forms a smooth, supple mass. Divide the dough into 2 even quantities, 1 part to be used for the profiteroles, the other for gougeres.

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:

• 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.

LAVENDER-HONEY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Beat the egg yolks stiff with the sugar and salt.
• Add the milk in a slow, steady stream. Stir in the honey.
• Cook the mixture lightly.
• Cool. Chill. Freeze. Garnish.

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.