Hickory smoked ice cream was inspired by one of the greatest desserts I've ever eaten in my life. It was a dinner at Saison, a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco.
The tasting menu had to be about 15 courses. At the end the server brought us a little orb of white ice cream.
They explained the ice cream was smoked before they poured a thread of warm salted caramel over the top. It was one of the best things I've tasted in a restaurant.
After we finished dessert, I asked the server how they make the ice cream, assuming it was cold smoked. Apparently the cooks take the milk from the restaurant's cow and put a burning log into it, which smokes the cream.
I was inspired by their method and wanted to see if I could do something similar. After a some trial and error, I came on some proportions that work well.
To smoke the cream, I use shagbark hickory bark. You can use wood chips, or a piece of your favorite smoking wood.
It turned out to be one of the most interesting desserts I've made, and the process of putting a piece of burning bark into the cream is exciting.
Shagbark syrup
It would be remiss of me to mention hickory bark and not mention hickory syrup. Hickory syrup is a known quantity in the foraging world and some people will sell it as a maple syrup substitute.
The syrup is made by making a tea from roasted hickory bark, adding sugar, and cooking to a specific temperature (225F). It tastes like smoked hickory with a hint of vanilla. There's a link below to my recipe if you're curious.
Related Posts
Forager's Guide to Shagbark Hickory Nuts
More Ice Cream Recipes
Hickory Smoked Ice Cream
Equipment
- 1 Ice cream maker preferably with a compressor
- 1 strainer or fine sieve
- 1 Whisk
- 1 2 quart saucepot
Ingredients
- 2 inch piece of clean hickory bark
- 3 cups half and half or 1.5 cups heavy cream and 1.5 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons corn starch or six egg yolks
- ¾ cup granulated sugar or light brown sugar or 1 cup of hickory syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup toasted chopped hickory nuts (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean
Instructions
Toasting hickory nuts (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (optional-this is a restaurant tic). Put the nuts on the baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes or until just barely starting to turn golden.
- Set a timer and be careful not to burn the nuts. You just want to toast them a bit. Cool the nuts to room temperature and reserve.
Infusing the dairy
- Take the piece of bark, and heat it over a fire until it’s engulfed in flames. Extinguish the burning bark in the cream, and allow to infuse for 20-30 minutes, then remove the bark and discard.
ice cream base
- Whisk the cream, egg yolks, sugar or syrup and salt. transfer to a sauce pot and heat on medium-high, turning down the heat when the mixture gets warm, until the cream mixture barely thickens. You will be whisking constantly, being very careful not to curdle the eggs if you don't want to use cornstarch.
- As the cream warms I often remove the pan from the heat, continuing to whisk as it will continue cooking off of the heat.
- Cool the custard mixture and rest, covered overnight for the best texture. To make the ice cream, process in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions, or until the cream starts to get thick like sour cream.
- Stir in the toasted nuts (if using) after spinning while the mixture is still soft. Remove the ice cream from the bowl, transfer to a covered container and freeze.
- Freeze the ice cream until set (at least a few hours). As it sits in the freezer it may get a little stiff over time. It's best served the day of or the day after making it. If your ice cream has been in the freezer for a while and seems stiff let it soften before scooping.
Notes
Ice Cream Makers
I use an ice cream maker with a compressor. The cheap models call for you to chill a mixing bowl filled with ice, which I find a little tedious. A compressor model allows you to turn it on and forget about it, but is more expensive.Nutrition
Chuck
Thank you, Chef. I really like and appreciate your site. Can you clear up the difference between Hickory and Pecan? I know that many Southerners have pecan trees, one or two or a few in their yards, and they harvest and sell the nuts. I also know there are different varieties of pecans. The last time I was in Tennessee I bought a bag of local pecans for the road and they were quite different than what I can by locally here in California. I'm affiliated with the construction trade and in terms of hardwood flooring, Hickory and Pecan are considered to be the same item. I recall reading somewhere (can't locate it now) that Hickory and Pecan are male and female versions of the same tree. I don't know if that's correct. Finally, the nutritional compositions of Hickory nuts and Pecan nuts are different, and, as you indicated in one of your replies, they taste similar; so, by extension, I deduce they are not the same thing.
Alan Bergo
Pecans are essentially a type of hickory, but not all hickories are pecans, if that makes sense.
Tom
Hello, I made this recipe several times now and every time I got raving comments. Thank you for the recipe. I always refer to your website.
I find that 240ml syrup is a bit much. The cheap ice cream makers overload a bit, either it overflows after long chruning or the cold capacity is not high enough. Is there a recipe that uses a higher flavor concentrated syrup?
2nd. Can I also just throw the burning bark into the syrup so I have a smoked syrup instead of putting the charred wood into the milk?
Alan Bergo
Hi Tom, glad you’ve recieved some compliments on it. I use an ice cream maker with a compressor, which aren’t cheap, but have a higher capacity. If not overflows you can do it in batches, or scale the recipe down by 25%, using weight measurements. You could try adding the bark to the syrup, but it’s not how the chefs described their process to me for how the original ice cream this is based from was made.
Eric Lichtenberger
I shared it at a work party and it was a hit. I made hickory bark syrup to use as the sugar replacement and was trying to think of something to do with the spent bark. I ended up bringing the spent bark pieces to the party and described them ‘rustic spoons.’ To my surprise, most everyone used them and a few folks brought their ‘spoons’ home.
Alan Bergo
Excellent. Yeah this is great with hickory syrup but it also more prone to crystallization then. It sure is good though.
Laurie
This recipe fascinates me and I would love to try it. However, I live in an area that doesn't have hickory. I have also never seen hickory nuts even in a store, just smoker chips.
Do you have any suggestions what other types of bark could be used (and safely)? I'd like to try this with something local. We are in Manitoba, Canada, zone 3, to give you an idea of our climate, & have birch, oak, pine, spruce, poplar, maple, saskatoon, and other trees and various wild shrubs.
Just the same, could we just use the smoker bark?
Laurie
I just read your article again and see that smoker chips can be used, but I'd still like to know about using other barks. Thanks!
Alan Bergo
Yes, you can use other barks and even just a piece of wood. Think of a wood that tastes good for smoking, like cherry. The only wood I don't recommend are conifers. You can substitute pecans for hickory nuts-they're related and taste similar.
Laurie
Thank you! We had mesquite chips on hand instead of the hickory. We tried it and it was okay. We made whipped cream out of the cream and put it in bite sized cream puffs. We tried it on hot chocolate too, but it didn't stand out.
We are looking forward to trying hickory chips, nanking cherry, apple wood, hickory smoker chips, and perhaps black currant. That's all we've thought of so far. We will test with a bit of cream first before mixing it into ice cream. We've got lots of cream from our cows at the moment, so it is a perfect time to experiment...and it is a lot of fun!
Tatyana Beer
Greetings from a fellow Canuck! Saskatoon is a great smoking wood, and alder is pleasant and mild as well. Happy smoking! 🍁
Marvin
Laurie, I think I would go with Saskatoon or maple. Saskatoon and maple don't have the sharp tones of birch or the tannins of oak. I agree that you definitely won't want to use the softwoods. And poplar has a nasty "wet dog" smell that I would want to stay far away from as well. I think I might try with apple wood which we have plenty of here in Nova Scotia. Anything with a fruity smoke should be good, I imagine...
Mary
My husband is getting ready to smoke some bacon in his wood smoker. I’m going to steal a small piece for this recipe!
Alan Bergo
Yes, you don't need a lot, just a small piece.
Michael Hood
Good to know! I tend to push things too far!