I Scream You Scream

So what's churning baby?  Tonight it's glace au gingembre (ginger ice cream) with candied ginger. A batch of lavendar creme anglaise is also chilling in my fridge, awaiting the dreaded churn.  While trolling the avenue President Wilson farmers market last Wednesday, I came to a screaching halt in front of the spice and herb stand. I wanted to buy one of everything but was able to somewhat able control my wallet and limit my spree to the above items. 

On the subway home, I realized that I had no eggs or cream but fortunately my Place Monge farmers market is also open on Wednesdays so upon exiting the subway I ran smack in to the egg lady. Luckily she wasn't carrying any eggs so I bought half a dozen along with some fresh, like really fresh, like just off the farm fresh (!), milk and heavy cream.



I used the standard vanilla ice cream/creme anglais recipe, however I used only 4 eggs and omited the vanilla for this recipe as I wanted the full force of the ginger and the lavendar. After step 4, I divided one recipe into 2 pots and added 2 tablespoons of powdered ginger into one and 2 tablespoons of lavendar buds into the other. 

I put the ginger mix into the ice cream machine and hit the button. I cut the candied ginger into tiny dice and added it to the machine. It's in the freezer chilling as I type so I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow morning. I have a feeling that I could have added a tad less powdered ginger ;-)

Comments

[Alicat]

I'm so proud of you for trying out all these new ideas for your ice cream maker! Great going girl! :D

[Abby]

OK, have you gained an enormous amount of weight after all of this? Or are French women still not getting fat?! :P

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

hi abby! miraculously i haven’t. i usually give it away to my friends. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, it’s just fun to make and try. also, once i cook something, i usually have no appetite for it as i have to keep tasting as i go so by the time it’s done i’m sick of it.

and yes, these French women are still not getting fat ;-) it’s all those damn leeks!

thanks alicat! it's fun :-)

[Tina]

Ahh! How did it go? I love ginger! This sounds like it'll be a winner.

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

hi tina -- well my predictions were right. i put a tad, ok waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much ginger in it! I would use 1 tbsp max rather than 2 next time as I only used half the creme anglaise recipe for this batch. but, it is good. hot & spicy but good IMHO ;-) now the lavendar on the other hand came out lovely! perfect amount, it wasn't too strong or too weak. a winner there :-) if you try it let me know! laura

[shuna]

Ok, the silly question: why powdered ginger at all? Why not just make an infusion? Ginger is so flavorful and aromatic. (My own feeling is that powdered spices give a texture that interferes with the smoothness of the excellent cream.

and those raw ingredients look so amazing.

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

thanks shuna! you're absolutely right - i didn't even think about it at the time as once i saw both gingers i of course wanted to make it *immediately* and all reason and rational flew out of my thimble full of brains! i still have some ice cream left so i'll hunt around for real ginger root and do a taste test/texture comparison. i had an infused ginger martini at Public in new york last year and it was incredible. ice cream, vodka, n'importe quoi! :-)