Lavender-Honey Gelato

This gelato is dense and creamy but not as fatty as American-style ice cream. The principal of gelato is that the lower fat content allows more flavor to come through. We used the fragrant Provence lavender in this recipe.

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup clover (or other light) liquid honey
2 teaspoons food-quality dried lavender
2 egg yolks
4-6 trays of ice

Heat the cream and milk in a heavy saucepan. Stir often and turn off before it boils. Add lavender. Stir. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Set out eggs to bring to room temperature.

Strain the milk mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water. Set a smaller bowl inside. [See photo]

Clean the pot and add the milk, honey and sugar. Heat gently, stirring the whole time until the sugar melts. Separate eggs and beat yolks with a fork or whisk until smooth. Temper the yolks by adding 1/2 cup of the hot milk to them while whisking. Slowly add the yolks to the milk mixture while stirring. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon the entire time, until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Make sure it does not boil or the eggs will scramble.

As soon as it reaches the point when it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon strain immediately into the bowl in the ice bath. Stir fora couple minutes to let some of the heat escape then cool in ice bath, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until chilled. Add ice to outer bowl as necessary.

Churn in an ice cream maker until thick. Using the Cuisinart 2 qt. Ice Cream Maker this took about 20 minutes. Transfer to 2 separate air tight containers and freeze until firm. This usually takes 24 hours.

Serves 8
Recipe by Amber Share

Comments

[Mindy]

I love this recipe. I did it back 2 years ago when you first posted it and am happy to see you've put it up again. Many thanks! So delicious!