Salt and Straw's Honey Lavender Ice Cream

Makes about 2 pints

Time: About 36 hours

Difficulty: Just Wright - Medium

Healthy Level: For the soul - calories don’t count

Listening To: Music - The Cardigans, Life

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 2 tablespoons dry milk powder

• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum

• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

• 1 ⅓ cup whole milk

• 1 ⅓ cup heavy cream

• ¼ cup wildflower honey

• ½ cup dried lavender (buds only)

• 10 drops natural purple food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the ice cream base. Combine the sugar, dry milk, and xanthan gum in a small bowl and stir well.

2. Pour the corn syrup into a medium pot and stir in the whole milk. Add the sugar mixture and immediately whisk vigorously until smooth. Set the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat if necessary to prevent a simmer, until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

3. Add the heavy cream and whisk until fully combined. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours or for even better texture and flavor, 24 hours. (I always do overnight).

4. After placing the base in the fridge to chill, begin the honey lavender syrup.

5. In a small saucepan, combine ¾ cup water and the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, then take it off the heat. Stir in the lavender, cover the saucepan, and let steep at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight. (Again I always do overnight).

6. The next morning, pour the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a container, pressing on the flower buds to extract as much liquid as possible. Chill until it is cold, about 4 hours.

7. Put the lavender syrup, ice cream base and food coloring (if using - I can never find purple so I try to make my own) into a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and turn on the machine. If using a Kitchen-aid Ice cream maker like me, churn for 20 - 30 minutes - if using a different machine follow directions for that machine.

8. Once it has reached the perfect texture, transfer the ice cream into a freezer-friendly container, cover with parchment paper pressing it to the surface and cover with a lid. Store in the coldest part of your freezer (farthest from the door) until firm, at least 6 hours. Will keep for up to 3 months.

I love ice cream. It is the best treat of all time in my opinion. And the absolute best ice cream of all time ever is Salt and Straw ice cream. They have shops in Los Angeles but originated in Portland. They use local ingredients, have classic flavors and rotating monthly flavors and they are all always innovative and delicious. When they released a cookbook I knew I had to start trying their recipes and started with the delicate Honey Lavender. Highly recommend this book!