Wild Ginger Ice Cream
I make this recipe with wild ginger from California, but there is another wild ginger that grows in Eastern forests. If you don't feel like foraging, you can use regular ginger for this ice cream, but the flavor will be different; more familiar to you, but different from the wild variety. Either way this makes a memorable ice cream. You will notice I do not use eggs in this recipe. And that I am using corn starch and maple syrup. This lets me do a few things: First, it keeps the color of the ice cream an austere greenish white, which immediately tells the eater that this is most definitely not vanilla. Second, it keeps the flavor pure. Third, the corn starch and maple syrup, which is an invert sugar, keep the ice cream scoopable for weeks. This is not easy to do with a regular, egg-based ice cream.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 ounces of chopped wild or domestic ginger, or mint
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- Save about 1/4 cup of the milk back to dissolve the corn starch in later. Heat the rest of the milk, the cream, sugar and ginger to the steaming point, about 160 degrees. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let steep for at least 2 hours, and up to overnight. To steep, let the mixture cool to room temperature on the stove, then pour it into a lidded container and refrigerate.
- Strain the mixture and pour it back into a pot. Turn the heat on medium to heat it up again slowly. While it is heating, whisk the corn starch in with the remaining milk until it is dissolved. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the ice cream base. Stir in the maple syrup. Stir the ice cream base frequently until it gets back to the steaming point, then stir it constantly for 8-10 minutes. You need to do this to get the mixture to set up correctly.
- Turn off the heat cool the mixture. I do this by filling a large bowl with ice and then nestling a smaller bowl inside the larger bowl. Pour the ice cream base into the smaller bowl, then stir frequently to cool it rapidly. When the ice cream base is cool, put it in your ice cream maker and follow its directions.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 10servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 282
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 282kcal | 14% |
| Carbohydrates | 26g | 9% |
| Protein | 3g | 6% |
| Fat | 19g | 29% |
| Saturated Fat | 12g | 60% |
| Cholesterol | 70mg | 23% |
| Sodium | 41mg | 2% |
| Potassium | 137mg | 3% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 21g | 42% |
| Vitamin A | 779IU | 16% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 93mg | 9% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.