Lemon Balm Ice Cream

Lemon Balm looked like mint but smelled like lemon! The herb has been traditionally used to alleviate insomnia and depression. Guess what also does that-- ICE CREAM! It was time to bust out the Cuisinart Ice Cream Machine that Willie and I received from the Rainbow Coalition! Woo!

This recipe comes from the Hungry Oyster blog. I had to do a little reading and re-reading of this recipe, because parts of its were confusing for me, so I am annotating it below as I understood it (I might be wrong).

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh lemon balm leaves, rinsed and dried

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cups sugar

6 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the lemon balm leaves with the milk, half a cup of the cream, and the sugar.

2. Once warm, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for one hour.

3. To make the ice cream custard, pour the remaining cream into a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, and put a mesh strainer on top.

4. Use a strainer or slotted spoon to skim the lemon balm from the milk and squeeze the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible back into the saucepan, then discard them. Rewarm the lemon verbena custard. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together and slowly pour in the warm infusion, whisking constantly. (Adrienne's note: tempering the eggs, no?)

5. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan and cook, stirring continuously with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Keep your eye on it so it doesn't curdle. When it's ready, you should be able to drag your finger across the back of the spoon and see a clear line.

6. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl of cream. Stir until cool.

7. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Enjoy!