mint

My boss, Lesley, is awesome. One reason is because she brought me a giant bouquet of mint from her garden. The first thing I did was put the kettle on, so I could make a pitcher of mint green tea.

The second thing I did was make ice cream. The recipe is from this book, and it has changed the mind of quite a few people that used to be strongly against mint ice creams. It’s that good. It was especially excellent next to a slice of chocolate birthday cake this last friday.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream, by David Lebovitz

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (I got by with 2%)
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
2 cups fresh mint leaves, lightly packed

Combine milk, sugar, salt, and one cup of cream in a small saucepan, and heat until steaming. Add mint leaves, making sure they’re all immersed in the milk mixture. Cover and let it sit for an hour. Pour over sieve into a medium-sized saucepan, pressing on the mint leaves to extract all the liquid. Rewarm  mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly whisk milk mixture into yolks to temper them. Return the milk-egg mixture to the pan and cook on medium heat, until custard is slightly thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Put the last cup of cream in a bowl or larger container with a lid, and pour custard through a sieve into the cream. Mix to combine. Let cool, then refrigerate overnight and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

You can add a handful of mini chocolate chips, stir in a fudge swirl, or toss in some cacao nibs. I added about a third of a cup to mine.