Maple Syrup Ice Cream

One word: Yum-o! This ice cream is so creamy and decadent. You only need a little scoop to satisfy that sweet maple-y craving. Which is good because this recipe is certainly not low cal. Though, next time I'm going to try it with all whole milk and see how it turns out. I bet it will still be awesome.

What a great way to kick off ice cream season. I'm told some people only eat ice cream in the summer months. I don't understand such things since for me ice cream is a year round addiction. In college my bff and I once drove through a blizzard to get a blizzard. True story. We actually called Dairy Queen and begged them to stay open until we got there. They were pretty sure we were kidding. You should've seen their faces when we showed up at Dairy Queen at 10pm, during a blizzard in northern Ontario. Not one of our better decisions, but you know how crazy people are in their college years.

Anywho.....

This recipe requires a bit of standing over the stove stirring, but in the end, it's totally worth it!

Maple Syrup Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup pure maple syrup, amber if possible (3/4 cup if you prefer a milder maple taste)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (opt)

Preparation:
Bring the heavy cream and milk to a simmer in a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat.

Whisk (or beat) together maple syrup, cornstarch, and egg yolks for 2-3 minutes.

Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat this 3 or 4 times to slowly bring the temperature of the egg mixture up, without cooking the eggs.

Then pour the syrup mixture into the remaining cream in the saucepan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until hot and thickened slightly. Do not boil. A good way to test if it's done is to do the "wooden spoon test". Check to see if the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. And if when you run your finger down the back of the spoon it looks like this.... (I learned this one from Anna Olson.)

Strain into a large mixing bowl. Cool the mixture somewhat. Whisk in the vanilla, and then chill thoroughly in the fridge. I chilled mine overnight.

Freeze in your ice cream machine. Add the pecans near the end of freezing time. I didn't add pecans this time because I wanted the smooth, creamy texture to dominate. If I did add pecans to this ice cream I would probably candy them in maple syrup, as I did my maple glazed sweet potatoes.

Enjoy!