Who says you can’t enjoy ice cream year-round? I make this gingersnap version around the holidays, I love pairing the sweet spicy flavor with our favorite apple and pumpkin desserts.
My friend Nicole first gave me this recipe, she serves it at her yearly fall festival with warm apple pie. It may be a burden to pull the ice cream maker out of storage this month, but, trust me, this recipe is worth it!
Ingredients:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 T molasses
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 dashes of nutmeg
Preparation:
1. Combine the milk and heavy cream in a large saucepan and bring to a low boil. Add the molasses and stir to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and spices. Add one cup of the hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Add the remaining milk mixture to eggs, then pour full mixture back into sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon – about 5 minutes.
2. Pour mixture into clean glass bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, and/or up to overnight.
3. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions on time. Scoop into container and freeze for a minimum of two hours.
Additional Note:
This recipe has an intense ginger flavor at first taste. If left up to one day in freezer, the taste mellows slightly. You can adjust ginger ratio down to make it more mild – or, if you are like my husband and like your gingersnaps as spicy as possible, you can add crystallized ginger or crushed gingersnap cookies to the mixture – after the ice cream maker, before the freezer!
And this mixture makes a softer, creamier ice cream than some of the others, so does not require any time out of the freezer before serving.
