Iced Honey Cream

We have serious ice cream cravings in our house. They creep in after dinner, and continue to harrass us all night long. Sometimes, we succumb and wind up buying a container of Ben & Jerry's (ok, THREE containers, I can't lie). And then I have remorse for a week afterward (I have remorse, the boys have no remorse whatsoever). Sigh.... and so it goes.

 



I am fully aware that homemade ice cream is a standard treat on a whole foods diet, but who are we kidding here? I can't make ice cream (conjure up images of a wooden bucket and lots of churning from childhood).

Photo Credit - Check out this photo credit...there's some interesting info here. 

In all honesty, I have such a fear of making my own ice cream, that I have never even read one of those recipes that are available on nearly all the big "real food" sites (googled fyi, see here and here and here, for example).

And then something happened... My friend, Marian, mentioned that she visited Powell Gardens and bought a jar of honey cream.... Honey Cream? Huh? What is this intriguing stuff? It is a rare day that someone mentions a food of which I have not heard. And so it went from there...

I googled honey cream and instead found this ice cream recipe that was a tiny little paragraph. I could do anything that only took a tiny paragraph to explain! I had to try it.... So here is my slightly modified version and, let me tell you, this stuff will satisfy your evening ice cream craving no problem! Cover it with homemade whipped cream, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate, fruit, etc., or enjoy it simply as it is.

Oh, and no wooden buckets required....

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup local honey
4-5 egg yolks (4 large or 5 small) from pasture eggs, try making macaroons with your remaining egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla extract

How To (tiny paragraph broken into very simple steps):
1. In a medium bowl, beat heavy cream and vanilla with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Cream

2. In another medium bowl, beat egg yolks until they are a pale yellow color and set aside.

Beaten egg yolks

 

3. In a small saucepan, heat honey over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Cook for two minutes.

Honey in small saucepan

4. Go back to the medium bowl with egg yolks and start mixing them again with your hand mixer. Now, simultaneously and slowly add your hot honey in a steady stream. Continue to mix for about five minutes, or until the mixture has reached room temperature.

*** This may sound complicated but it's really not. Just use one hand to mix the egg yolks and pour the honey with the other. If you have a helper this will be easier and if you have a food processer this will be very simple to do. However, it is relatively easy regardless and a nice test of coordination. Ha Ha.

Beaten egg yolks combined with whipped cream

5. Fold your whipped cream into the whipped honey and transfer the honey cream mixture to a 5 x 10 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until set (2 hours and up to one week). In my opinion, let it freeze overnight at least-- the honey flavor mellows and the texture is perfectly ice creamy.

Unfrozen, container just filled

 

Frozen, next day

 

Comments: The original recipe is from Martha Stewart and you can find it here. This one is slightly modified but the same basic idea - cream, honey, eggs and a freezer. Also, it is vanilla flavored and has a slight honey flavor. You could increase the vanilla to about 1 tbsp if you wanted a stronger vanilla taste and I think you could even decrease the honey a bit, down to perhaps 2/3 cup. This was a really great treat. I loved how I only needed my hand mixer to make this and I especially loved the no guilt ice cream treat around 7pm that night. Both of my boys really enjoyed this, as did I.

 

"There’s nothing wrong with me a little ice cream won’t fix". -- Unknown

 

 

 

This recipe is dedicated to my friend, Marian, who frequently inspires me and always has words of support.

 

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