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sourdough discard crackers

use up that sourdough starter in something other than pancakes! this recipe is loosely based on King Arthur Flour's sourdough cracker re...

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

brown sugar ice cream

this is a bare-bones recipe, but it’s so good I want to get at least the basic recipe up.

8 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar (I actually used Mexican sugar for this part, which is an extremely light brown and coarse sugar, but I don’t know that it made any difference; white sugar works just as well)
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 cups heavy cream (you can use up to 1/3 milk, but I like my ice cream on the insanely rich side)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Mexican vanilla
1-2 teaspoons Kahlua (optional)

beat the egg yolks with the white sugar until the mixture is lemon-yellow in color and forms ribbons, then beat in the brown sugar, cream and salt (use the smaller amount of salt to start). cook it in a very heavy pot (I like a Le Creuset dutch oven) over very low heat (or use a bain marie), stirring constantly, ever-vigilant, until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon nicely. it won’t be super-thick; it should come out more the consistency of a finished veloute (yeah, I'll find those accents aigu one of these days). add the vanilla and optional Kahlua, then taste to see if it wants more salt. pour it out into a suitable container and refrigerate it for at least several hours, preferably overnight. after that, freeze as usual -- I like my little Cuisinart ice cream freezer for this, but this recipe needs to be adjusted, because it makes too much to freeze in one batch. next time, I’ll try to use 3/4 to 2/3 the amount and will update when I get it right.

this comes out just gorgeous, a dense gelato-like texture with a dark cream color, and goes beautifully with fresh fruit, chocolate cake, or all by itself. one scoop will be plenty for most people, since it’s so rich.