Monday, December 8, 2008

Candy Cane Ice Cream

Well, in my quest for the perfect eggnog flavored ice cream, I decided to take a detour. The adult flavorings in the eggnog ice cream were simply too confusing to work out in one batch. (Where did that rum go again? Oh, I forgot; I hate rum.)

This is a wonderful Christmas flavored ice cre
am. It's also a very pretty pink, always a plus! And look at those delightful little candy cane morsels in there! This is from the Best Ice Cream Cookbook Ever, by Peggy Fallon, one of my finds at a used book sale in October. I'm giving you her directions, then my "lazy mom" spin.

CANDY CANE ICE CREAM

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup crushed candy cane (about 3)
2 egg yolks
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy cane pieces


In a saucepan, heat the cream, milk, 1/4 cup crushed candy and sugar until
nearly boiling, and the candy is all dissolved, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk the yolks in a separate bowl, add about 1 cup of the hot mixture, and whisk the yolk mixture back into the custard base. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened. A candy thermometer will read 160F, but it's not really necessary. Warning: do not let this mixture boil, because it will cause the egg to separate. Remove from the heat and cool this mixture on the counter for an hour, then stir in the extracts, and cool in the refrigerator at least 6 hours, and up to 3 days. Process in your ice cream maker according to directions, or follow the directions for freezing without the ice cream maker in my strawberry ice cream post. When the ice cream reaches soft serve stage, add the remaining candy cane pieces, process 1 minute more to incorporate, and freeze at least 3 hours.

As I did it (what, you thought I wouldn't find a better/easier way?):

In a large microwavable container (I use a 2 quart batter bowl from Pampered Chef), heat 1 cup each cream and milk with sugar and 1/4 cup candy cane bits. Microwave for one minute at a time, stirring after each minute, until sugar and candy cane are dissolved, about 5 minutes. The custard base will take on its pretty pink color as the candy cane dissolves. Whisk the egg yolks in another container, stir in some of the hot mixture, and then whisk into the hot mixture. Return to the microwave and heat for 30 seconds at a time, until the mixture is hot and thickened. This took me about 3 minutes. Warning: don't let the mixture boil with the egg yolks in it! Let it sit about 5 minutes, then whisk in the extracts and the balance of the cream and milk. Chill for 6 hours or more, then freeze as directed by your ice cream maker, adding the 1/2 cup of candy cane pieces a minute before the processing is done. Freeze in the freezer at least 3 hours before serving. Note: I let my custard base cool overnight in the fridge, and had to whisk back in a skin that had formed on the top. It was no big deal. Note that I use my 2 quart batter bowl for mixing up the custard, and to store the ice cream in the freezer. It comes with its very own lid, which is a big plus in my world. It also has a handle, which seals the deal for me!

Two important notes:

1. If you use those red and green colored candy canes, I'm betting your ice cream will be rather gray. I suggest the traditional red ones only.

2. Do not let your children egg you on to try smashing the candy canes with your rolling pin! Both the big and little boys were in favor of smacking the canes with the rolling pin, so I tried it with the first one, and the cello wrapper burst, spraying little powdery candy bits all over the counter. Of course, you can hear in your head the choruses about how awesome this display of idiocy was. What works is to put a cane in a paper towel, folded over once, and gently roll it until it's crunched up. Safe and boring.

Finally, you can think of this as "diet ice cream". I only took one sc
oop, shown below, and didn't want to eat anything else for hours, because I only want to drink water after eating mints. Excellent result!
If you don't have an ice cream scooper that gives you these nice round puffs, get one from Pampered Chef. If you don't have a Pampered Chef lady, let me know; I have two I can share with you!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I swear I'm moving to where you are! I want the eggnog ice cream please. I love eggnog. g

Christo Gonzales said...

dang you are your own creamery - this looks great! I so want the attachment for my machine now more than ever!

Peter M said...

I'd like 1 scoop and some chocolate sauce, please.

Also, please don't try and hang the candy cane ice cream on the tree!

Linda said...

I think you're going to have to invest in a good Jersey cream/milk cow if you keep this up:)

Claire S. said...

Marjie, this is ALL YOUR FAULT ! French vanilla ice cream was made on Sunday, eggnog ice cream is in the fridge, as I type, to be made tomorrow right after work. I don't like rum either, but oh my gosh, does it ever smell good ! Peppermint (or Candy Cane now) is next on the list.

I'm gonna have to stop checking in on your posts until AFTER my party !

OK, now I have to go out and get some all red candy canes - thanks for the tip, I'd have probably gotten the multi-colored ones, whew :-)

test it comm said...

It has been a while since I last had a candy cane and this ice cream sounds great!

Anonymous said...

What a pretty and delicious looking scoop of ice cream!

Anette said...

Mmm! That looks so nive! My mouth is watering as I read. Sadly there is no Icecream maker in our hous, so I can only imagine the lovelyness of that scoop!

Anonymous said...

That last shot is just perfect and says it all! Perfect holiday ice cream!

Paula said...

Oh my is that so heavenly!
Thank you so much for the recipe.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I almost spit coffee on my screen when I read about the rolling pin. Your last picture of the single scoop of ice cream is amazing - does it get much better than that?

SissySees said...

You don't happen to know where I put my ice cream maker, do you? Oh my... I love me some peppermint ice cream...

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite Christams ice cream! I think I could eat it all year round! Yours looks absolutely delicious!

grace said...

mmm...peppermint stick ice cream is one of my favorites, and this would be a great use for all those candy canes that are leftover after christmas. the ones i don't suck down, that is. :)

vegasangelbrat said...

Oh yumm, will definitely have to try this!! Thank you!!

Thanks for stopping by also..believe me, Lady will have the red rops shredded eventually..I can tell when they tear them apart, they poo string..lol

Enjoy your ice cream!!

Pam said...

I haven't had candy cane ice cream in years - I used to look forward to it during the holidays when I was a kid. This looks fantastic Marjie. Can't wait for the egg nog ice cream.

Shelby said...

candy cane ice cream sounds so good!!

pam said...

OMG, I love candy cane ice cream. But I'm too lazy to go through all those steps, I'll have to see if I can make it easier. I know it won't be as good as yours!

Anonymous said...

The girls would love this. That's pretty funny about the mints and being thirsty!

Nathaniel Carolina said...

"Of course, you can hear in your head the choruses about how awesome this display of idiocy was." LOL. So this is the legendary candy cane ice cream! Just looking at it makes me want to hate hating those hard candy canes. Love it! Keep it up!

Jeanetta said...

Dear Harriet,

I have been living in rural India for a year now with my husband working for a non profit organization (www.tmaseva.org) that provides free water filters to poverty stricken families. We are an hour and a half away from the nearest city, and it has none of the things we had become accustomed to in the states. If you want something, you essentially have to make it, like fresh peanut butter or almond butter. We had no oven, so I improvised and made cookies on the stove in a frying pan with a lid. Same with making a cake.

I, too, am a modern day Harriet, love the simplicity of our new life and am often up for a challenge, especially in the kitchen.

Here in our little village ice cream is not available half of the year due to the monsoon season when electricity can be out of 4 5o 5 days. And it really isn't the best ice cream, but it is satisfactory.

I began dreaming of real homemade ice cream like we made when I was a little girl in Oregon. With fresh berries or peaches, or candy cane.

I tried to buy a hand crank ice cream maker in Mumbai, but they were over $ 200. No way.
My sponsoring organization asked me what they could send to me. I thought maybe someone still had one of those old hand crank ones in their garage. Instead they sent over a cute little modern version that uses no ice, but has a bucket that goes into the freezer and then is cold enough to harden the mixture.

I had not mentioned to anyone my fantasy about candy cane ice cream, but someone else state-side included four little candy canes in the box of surprises for us.

You don't see candy cane ice cream very often in the stores. It must be something out of the past. But here is your recipe and now we are going to try it out.

We get two liters of fresh cow milk delivered every morning. I can buy cream in a box so it will always be available for that sudden inspiration. And here is your recipe for making this vision from my childhood.

Dark chocolate is one thing I do stock here in our frig for my little treats. They don't take up too much room in the freezer. Only 10% of Indians actually consume chocolate so I don't fear that staff or visitors will get into my stash. I will be making chocolate sauce to accompany my ice cream.

Thanks for the inspiration. Will let you know how it is.

You can read about me teaching my staff member to bake cookies on our blog. It is kind of humurous because she speaks almost no English, I speak very little Marathi. But we communicate with hands, faces and our love.

http://firemountainretreat.blogspot.com/2010/01/jeera-biscuits-cumin-pastries.html

Maybe Vanita and I will make ice cream tomorrow. Thanks for your post.

Jess said...

Just found your blog googling for candy cane ice cream recipes. This looks fantastic. I went out to buy candy canes today!