Friday, April 19, 2013

Spice is the variety of life

We have an abundance of fresh raw goat's milk at the moment.  Four momma goats all donating generously - much of the milk is destined for some delicious fresh cheese, but there still needs to be a fair amount put to use.  Ice cream was right on the mark.

Growing up, I remember my folks had an ice cream maker - the memories are foggy, I think it was automated, but this was 3+ decades ago.  What I do remember clearly from that ice cream maker was a delicious cinnamon ice cream that my mom had made for a friend's birthday party.  With that memory fresh at hand, I began scouring the web for a good (no custard, because I'm lazy) cinnamon ice cream recipe.  The great Google landed me at Erin's Food Files, and I was intrigued.  Maple syrup, cinnamon and a healthy bit of salt - definitely promising.  I made some fairly drastic deviations from Erin's recipe in terms of process, as well as some scaling for the capacity of my ice cream maker.  Then end result is delicious, with warm notes from the cinnamon and the saltiness playing off the sweet of the maple.  It's a bit like ice cream made from the leftover milk after a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!

Salted Maple-Cinnamon Ice Cream

           Ingredients:
  • 1.5 C whole milk (I used the goat's milk which is around 3-4% fat)
  • 1/4 C granulated sugar
  • 1/3 C maple syrup
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon ( I use Penzey's)
  • 1.5 C heavy whipping cream
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp kosher salt (or other coarse salt)
Combine milk, syrup, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until the solids are dissolved and the syrup is fully incorporated.  The cinnamon will separate out, some settling to the bottom, most floating on the top.

Add the vanilla extract and heavy cream to the mix and stir gently to incorporate.  Place the mixing bowl in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 3 hours.

When ready to prepare, set up your ice cream maker and remove the mixture from the refrigerator.  Stir the mix gently to incorporate any syrup that may have settled to the bottom and add to the ice cream mixer.  The action of the mixer should help incorporate and distribute the cinnamon which had been floating on the top of your dairy mixture.

Process according to your machine's directions and scoop finished ice cream into an airtight container and store in the freezer.  Let sit a minimum of four hours in the freezer to reach scoopable consistency, and overnight is better.
I *may have* sampled a spoonful before leaving for work the next morning


Scoop into your favorite bowl and enjoy!

6 comments:

  1. I couldn't resist coming to check out such a unique ice cream flavor! Thanks for the link. This sounds delicious. Have a great night!

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    1. Thanks Mary! the sweet of the maple, the spice of the cinnamon and the saltiness all come together amazingly well!

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  2. Ohhh I love this flavor! Looks delicious!

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    1. Thanks, Nami! It's a great combination of flavors that works really well together - haven't had a disappointed taste-tester yet!

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  3. Goat's milk ice cream! Oh, my double goodness. I never considered the potential and now I am asking myself, Why the heck not?!

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    1. Stacy - the goat's milk adds another layer of flavor that really complements the warmth of the cinnamon and maple!

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