We’re big fans of homemade ice cream. (Who isn’t?) The best part of making your own ice cream is playing around with different flavors and textures. That’s just what we did when we visited Izzy’s Ice Cream and created our own flavor: ginger ice cream swirled with graham cracker crumble and pecans. We liked it so much we created a recipe inspired by our experience.
Our Double Ginger Ice Cream is studded with crystallized ginger and spiked with ginger liqueur. Besides adding depth of flavor, the ginger liqueur helps keep the ice cream from freezing too hard.
We toasted both the pecans and the graham cracker crumbs to intensify their flavor. They add a nice contrast when layered with the rich and creamy ice cream base.
Double Ginger Ice Cream
Ice Cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 egg yolks
1/4 cup ginger liqueur (we used Domaine de Canton)
1/4 cup very finely chopped crystallized ginger
Graham Cracker Crumble and Pecans
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup toasted pecan halves
Directions
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir 1 cup whipping cream, the milk, sugar and salt until well mixed. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture just comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks until well blended. With whisk, gradually stir hot milk mixture into egg yolks. Return to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats a spoon. Now you have a custard base.
Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl; set a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl. Pour the custard base through the strainer and stir into the cream until blended. Refrigerate ice cream base uncovered for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until cold. At this point, the mixture can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours before freezing the ice cream, if desired.
Meanwhile, make graham cracker crumble. In an 8-inch square glass baking dish, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter; press firmly in bottom of dish. Bake in a 350°F oven 6 to 8 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Cool completely; crumble with a fork.
When ready to freeze ice cream, stir ginger liqueur into ice cream base. Pour into 2-quart automatic ice cream freezer container. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions, adding crystallized ginger when mixture begins to firm up.
Spoon 1/3 of ice cream into a chilled 2-quart freezer container or bowl; sprinkle with half of the graham crumble and pecans. Top with another 1/3 of the ice cream, then remaining crumble and pecans. Spoon remaining ice cream over top. Cover; freeze until firm. The flavor and texture are best if you let the ice cream ‘ripen’ by freezing at least overnight.
Prep Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 12 hours | Servings: 10-1/2 Cups
More cool ice cream recipes from around the web:
- Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream from David Lebovitz
- Black Coffee Ice Cream by Jeni Britton Bauer via Leite’s Culinaria
- Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream from Joy the Baker