Catch up

Whoops, work took over for a while. It was good though, making progress towards that paper that'll proclaim me PhD and set me free to finally become the cheesemaker I always wanted to be.

Anyways, I've also been making some stuff in the meantime. I took pictures and am finally posting them.

First off:

Honey Lavender Ice Cream (adapted from epicurious)

1 1/2 c. cream
1 1/2 c. half and half
1/2 c. honey (light clover is probably good. I used dark wildflower honey and it was a bit much)
2 T. lavender flowers
2 large eggs
1 t. salt

Put cream, half and half and honey in a pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add lavender flowers. Cover and let steep for an hour. Strain lavender flowers from cream. Reheat cream to hot but not boiling. Turn off heat. In a bowl, whisk egg and salt in a bowl. Sloooowly add 1 cup of hot cream, whisking all the while. Then pour egg-cream mixture back into saucepan full of cream. Heat over med-low heat and stir with a spoon until the cream coats the back of the spoon. Cool your custard either in the fridge or by carefully dunking the pot in a big bowl full of icy water. Then break out your ice cream maker.

It was yummy and one of those ice creams that stay creamy when you freeze it.


I also tried the Caramel ice cream that was posted on the Amateur Gourmet. Instead of using all cream, I accidentally used all half and half. Plus I burnt the caramel a little. Did you know that taking a pan of boiling sugar off the burner does nothing? The sugar just keeps boiling and turning darker and darker as you watch frozen with horror. I finally collected myself and put out the boiling sugar with the half and half. Then I chopped up some fine 65% chocolate and the toasted pecans. The ice cream, with all its mishaps, was still divine.

This is all I wanted to eat for about three days straight.