Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Maison du Miel's Heather Honey Ice Cream

2 plump, moist vanilla beans
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heather honey (or substitute another aromatic honey such as chestnut or eucalyptus)

Flatten the vanilla beans and cut them in half lengthwise. With a small spoon, scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and pods in a large saucepan. Add the cream, milk, and honey. Stir to dissolve the honey. Heat over moderate heat, stirring from time to time, just until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let steep, covered, for 1 hour.
Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (hs note: v. important)

Remove the vanilla pods, and stir the mixture again to blend. transfer it to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.