A Cool Idea

An ice cream made with unexpected ingredients takes the flavor well beyond plain vanilla

 Brian Perrone of Slows BarBQ in Detroit devised this ice-cream recipe after he was introduced to green cardamom by one of his colleagues at No. VI Chop House in a Bangladeshi chicken and rice dish. “I loved the flavor,” says Perrone, “and thought it would make a cool ice cream, no pun intended. I added the ginger the last time I made it for [Slows co-owner] Philip Cooley’s birthday.”
— Molly Abraham
 
Green Cardamom and Ginger Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
10 ounces sugar
2 ounces ginger, crushed
8 green cardamom pods
12 egg yolks

The base for the ice cream is an infused crème anglaise. It may also be used as a dessert sauce.
Put cream and milk and half the sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepan. Crush the ginger with the side of a chef’s knife and add to the pot.
Add cardamom pods. Heat on low for 30 minutes to infuse the flavors.
Add remaining sugar to yolks in a large stainless bowl and whisk until smooth. Bring cream and milk mixture just to a boil. Remove from heat.
Slowly temper the hot liquid into the yolks. (The yolks must be brought up to the temperature of the milk/cream slowly so the yolks don’t cook.)
Return mixture to saucepan and cook on low until just thickened and nappy. Do not overcook.
The finished sauce is the consistency of heavy cream and will thicken as it cools.
Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a clean stainless bowl and set in an ice bath to rapidly chill. When it has cooled completely, process in an ice-cream machine, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Serve ice cream on its own or with warm apple pie. Serves 6.

This article appears in the June 2008 of Hour Detroit.
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