Ice cream scented with wood smoke, made with hickory bark or wood chips and shagbark hickory syrup. It ends up tasting like smoked vanilla ice cream. A little goes a long way. Yield: 4 cups
3cupshalf and halfor 1.5 cups heavy cream and 1.5 cups whole milk
2tablespoons corn starchor six egg yolks
¾ cup granulated sugar or light brown sugar or 1 cup of hickory syrup
⅛teaspoonkosher salt
¼cuptoastedchopped hickory nuts (optional)
1teaspoon 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.