CARDAMOM, PISTACHIO, ALMOND & HONEY ICE-CREAM

You know how people always talk about the wonders of homemade bread ? Well I believe the same is applicable for ice-cream. About 7 or 8 years ago, when I was somewhere half way through high school, we bought an ice-cream machine. For the first year, I was making ice-cream all the time, experimenting around with flavours and so on. Then, the excitement wore off for one reason really: I wasn’t following any recipes. I was just randomly adding milk, sugar, and other ingredients with resulting odd textures after 30 minutes of churning in the ice cream machine. It wasn’t until I moved to Switzerland where I learned the proper approach to making good ice-cream at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne. Ever since, I only swear by the techniques and recipe I learned there, and now the pleasures of homemade ice-cream has completely revived.

Although the weather has been quite cold and grey for this time of the year, my ice-cream mood nonetheless is quite permanent- regardless of the seasons! However I really did not want to make a “classic” flavour such as chocolate or vanilla. So instead, I ended up making cardamom, pistachio, almond & honey ice cream. The matching up of ingredients to create this flavour was very spontaneous, but unconsciously I was sure that there was a Middle Eastern influence. I made a small quantity as a “test”, and without a doubt next time I’ll be making a lot more. The flavour turned out delightful, and what I probably loved most was the refreshing edge the cardamom added coupled with the smooth sweetness of the honey. Each spoon brought a smile on my face, and that I believe is one of the best feelings of home-made ice-cream.

Recipe for cardamom, pistachio, almond & honey ice cream (for 6 people)

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
125gr sugar
300ml low fat milk
200ml liquid cream
Vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Crushed pistachios & almonds
Honey

How to make it:
Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. In a pot, bring the milk, cream, cardamom and vanilla to boil. Pour the boiling milk mixture over the cold mixture (eggs + sugar) while stirring. Return to heat and continue to stir until the cream starts to thicken. This stage of cooking is known as “la nappe” which is achieved between 82-85C. If the cream is not heated sufficiently, the ice-cream will be thin and watery. Remove the pot from the heat and stop the cooking process by place it in cold water mixed with ice cubes. Pass the mixture though a strainer and transfer to your ice-cream machine. Add the crushed pistachios and almonds before churning. Follow manufacturers’ instructions. Half way through the churning, add the honey (while ice-cream is still churning).

*The base recipe I use for ice-creams, including this one, is from the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne pastry & desserts techniques. If you don't like using eggs, you can replace with other binding agents such as gelatine, pectin, agar-agar... I personally do not like using eggs and replaced the eggs with gelatine for this one.