Epicurean Adventures: Ice Cream

For my most recent birthday, my family and friends gave me an ice cream maker, adding to my "things I could buy but instead I attempt to make from scratch and then eat" list. The list started probably started with cookies and cakes when I was in college and too cheap (or broke) to buy sweets at the store. And mom didn't keep up with my demand...

My friend Chris got me hooked on brewing my favorite, beer, when he gave me a Mr. Beer brew kit for Christmas one year. When I returned from a summer in England, he'd liberated my unused kit and accidentally lagered an ale, which turned out to be a dead ringer for the local beers I'd been drinking in many of the English pubs I'd spent the last three months visiting. The rest, as they say, is history - I've been brewing ever since and occasionally blogging about these adventures here.

Next I added cheese, also my favorite, courtesy of my brother and his desire to make fresh mozzarella. I've dabbled in a few cheeses, mainly mozzarella-esque but also one farmhouse cheddar, which was mildly edible. I will revisit this soon but as of late have been focusing on ice cream, which I would also count as my favorite. This makes three favorites, I know. What can I say, I am indecisive.

Flavors I've made include French vanilla, raspberry Nutella ripple, caramel with homemade caramel swirl, and now almond butter swirl with dark chocolate and cranberry bits. For those allergic to nuts, stop reading now because the rest of this will only pain you. This is by far the best ice cream I've concocted yet. Here's the ingredients:

Almond Butter Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberries

• 2 c. half & half
• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp vanilla 
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 c. chopped dried cranberries
• 1 c. chopped dark chocolate
• 1 c. almond butter
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream

I warmed and mixed the almond butter with 1 c. whipping cream to make it smooth enough to pour and mixed this with the ice cream after churning it. This I chilled with the custard mix before churning it and then lightly warmed it again enough to make it slightly viscous. I spooned a few heaping spoonfuls of ice cream into the container, then added the almond butter cream mixture, then a generous helping of cranberries and chocolate and repeated this layering until it was full. I stirred the ice cream a few times to distribute the additions throughout the cream a little before freezing. It is delicious! Hint of almond, crunch of chocolate, tartness of chewy cranberry...