I have a slight fear of the use of ginger in recipes. It stems from the past in which I made some cookies that were good the first day. The next day the flavor developed more and the ginger took over. The cookies had too strong of a flavor, the ginger even over powered the chocolate in the cookie.There should have been a disclaimer stating serve or eat the same day.
Flavor balancing is a difficult subject because a lot is based on personal preference. Some people want a strong flavor while others want an even balance. For the strong flavor, I recommend making something that has a singular flavor. A singular flavor does not have to balance with another and you will get the pure taste.
This post is a particularly great example of balance of flavor. The caramel, ginger and brown sugar all comes through, which makes this ice cream a real keeper. This recipe requires one special ingredient, ginger spread. The recipe does not require much and I ordered it from Amazon under the "ginger people" brand.
Should you decide not to add the ginger spread, the end result will be a pretty tasty caramel swirl ice cream.
After I tasted the ice cream, I wished the recipe made more. Delicious and unique, I am sure I will be making this again soon!
Brown Sugar Ginger Caramel Swirl Ice Cream
adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones
Ingredients/Ice Cream
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup of 2% milk
5 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vodka
Ingredients/Swirl
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp of ginger spread
Complete any preparation work required on your ice cream maker prior to creating this ice cream. Fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the egg yolks and whisk together. Once blended, add in 1/4 cup of brown sugar and mix on medium speed until sugar is thoroughly blended into egg yolks. Set aside.
Add 1/4 cup brown sugar, cream, milk and salt to saucepan and place over medium high heat. Once it reaches a simmer, remove. Turn stand mixer back on to medium and stream in 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture. After this is blended, repeat with an additional 1/2 cup of the cream. Take the saucepan and place over medium heat and pour cream/egg mix back into remainder of hot cream.
Stir constantly as the mixture heats up. It should cook to a thickened state and coat the back of a wooden spoon. If you swipe your finger through it, the path will remain. This indicates that it is done cooking.
Place a sieve over a large heat proof bowl and pour the mixture into the sieve. This will insure that the custard is smooth. Fill a sink with ice and water. Place the bowl into the ice water. There should be enough ice and water to come level with the top edge of the custard inside the bowl. Whisk in vodka.
Stir the mixture at intervals while it chills. Once 15 minutes has passed, mix in the vodka and cover bowl. Place in refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
As the ice cream is chilling, the swirl can be made. Place a saucepan over medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of sugar. As it cooks, the edge of the sugar pile will melt and then start to change colors. Once completely melted, repeat the process with another 2 tablespoons of sugar. The rest of the remaining sugar should be added and melted in the same manner. Remove from heat when all the sugar is melted and it has a mahogany hue.
Slowly pour in the cream, mixing it into the sugar. The cream will cause the caramel to seize up. In that instance, drop the temperature to low and continue to stir the mixture until all the caramel is melted and blended with the cream. This could take 15-30 minutes, depending on how much turned into a lump. Add ginger paste and salt to mixture and blend.
After the chilling time is complete, remove ice cream from refrigerator and fill ice cream machine. Follow manufacturer's instructions. Then place caramel in a squirt bottle. When transferring ice cream from machine to storage bowl, squirt caramel into bowl after transferring a few scoops. Repeat process until 6 tablespoons of caramel is in the ice cream. Take a knife and make a few swirls in ice cream to disperse caramel in streaks throughout ice cream base.
Cover and freeze until ice cream reaches the preferred firmness for serving.
Tips and Notes:
1. The vodka is for the purpose of keeping the ice cream from turning rock hard in the freezer. It does not impart any flavor to the ice cream.
2. There will be extra caramel sauce for another use. the recipe states that smaller measurements of the ingredients somehow do not work. There is more than enough for double the ice cream base.
3. For a short cut without the ginger, use store bought Dulce de Leche.
**THREE YEARS AGO:Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies**
