Panforte Ice Cream

I’ve mentioned a time or two that we consider ourselves foodies.  As such, we typically figure out ways to handcraft foods traditionally bought at the grocery store.  Among the most decadent of our tasty treats?  Ice cream.  We have fun both trying recipes from cookbooks and mixing and matching to come up with our own creations–kind of like an organic Cold Stone.  This week, I made a recipe from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.  The ingredients piqued my curiosity, and when I suggested it to Jeff he was all in.  It’s called Panforte.  In it’s original form, it’s an Italian cake, apparently.  Reminiscent of eggnog, it incorporates fall flavors, including: cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon.  It’s not that simple, though.  Candied citrus peel adds a surprisingly crisp flavor and roasted almonds offer a rich, buttery crunch.  Truly, it’s delicious.  Come Thanksgiving, I will most definitely be serving this atop a thick slice of brown sugar pound cake.  Mmmmhmmm.

Ingredients:

1 c half-and-half
2/3 c sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
2 c heavy cream
4 large eggs yolks
3 T full-flavored honey
1/4 c. candied citrus peel
1/2 c. almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine half and half, sugar, and spices.  Heat over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from heat, cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Rewarm spice mixture over low heat.  While mixture is heating, in a medium sized bowl, whisk egg yolks.  Using a ladle, slowly temper the eggs by slowly drizzling the warm spice mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly.

Pour heavy cream into a large bowl and put a fine mesh strainer on top of the bowl.  With a spatula, scrape the egg spice mixture back into the saucepan.  Heat the mixture over medium heat and continuously stir with a spatula.   Make sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan as you stir.  Remove from heat once the mixture coats the back of the spatula.

Pour the egg mixture, now custard through the strainer and into the heavy cream.  Discard the cinnamon stick.  Place the custard in an ice bath and continuously stir.  Once slightly cool, add honey.

Chill mixture in the fridge overnight.  Then follow the instructions according to your ice cream maker.  Right before the ice cream is done churning, add almonds (recipe below) and citrus candy peel (recipe below).

Candied Citrus Peel
Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of the orange peel (no white pith).  The strips should be about 1 inch long.  Cut the strips into small toothpick sized slices.  Add orange peel to a small saucepan and cover (just barely) with water.  Heat over medium-high heat until a boil is reached.  Then let simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain peel, rinse with cool water and set aside.  Add remaining ingredients to the saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add orange peel.  Cook the peel mixture at a very low boil for about 25 minutes or until a candy thermometer reaches 230°F.  Remove from heat and let cool in pan.  Once cool, use a fork to pick out the orange peel and add it to the ice cream.

Toasted Almonds
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spread almonds onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool completely.