I’ve written before about how much I love my ice cream maker. If you don’t have one yet, get ye to the store and buy one before ice cream making season arrives. For an investment of around $60 you can spend your summer (your whole year!) eating delicious homemade ice cream whenever you like. Ice cream made with organic ingredients and less sugar than the commercial stuff. You can whip up all sorts of crazy flavors like black pepper, blue cheese or bacon. Or, you could make this amazing version of Maple Walnut Ice Cream.
I’m headed to Montreal and so this recipe is in honor of our friends to the north. Bryan is a Canadian and so Canada holds a special place in my heart. Canada has given us such amazing things like Alanis Morissette, Owen Pallett and especially Maple Syrup. This ice cream is seriously good. Bryan had to remove the container of it from my hands because I simply could not stop eating it. So, while I’m away for a couple of days visiting a sugar shack and stuffing myself with poutine, enjoy this ice cream and think of me.
Forgive me if I am slow in responding to emails or comments this week, I’ll catch up quickly when I get back and will have lots of delicious stories from Montreal. Oui, oui!
Maple Walnut Ice Cream (adapted from a recipe by David Lebovitz)
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup dark maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Wet Walnuts (recipe follows)
Warm milk and sugar in medium saucepan. Pour cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium-low 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 to cool. Add the maple syrup, salt, and vanilla, and stir over ice bath until cool. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. During the last few minutes of churning, add the Wet Walnuts.
Wet Walnuts
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
- 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon dark maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and very coarsely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Heat the maple syrup in a small skillet or saucepan until it just begins to come to a full boil. Stir in the walnuts and salt, and cook until the liquid comes to a full boil once more. Stir the nuts for 10 seconds, then remove them from the heat and let cool completely before using. The nuts will still be wet and sticky when cooled.