Like a Great Love

    

     
      Like a great love, there are certain recipes that will measure everything that comes next.

Buttermilk Ice Cream
from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course

Ingredients

2 c buttermilk
pinch of salt
1 t vanilla extract or ½ scrapped vanilla bean

2 c heavy cream
1 c sugar

6 to 12 egg yolks

Process

    Combine the buttermilk, salt and vanilla in a large bowl and set it in your sink with a fine mesh strainer resting on top. Rest it in an ice bath if you’re thinking of churning it soon (I let mine rest overnight in the fridge before churning it).

    Over medium heat, bring the heavy cream and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and slowly add ½ c of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly; this is to introduce them to heat so that they won’t curdle.

    Add the warmed yolks to the hot cream, place over low heat and stir often, if not constantly, until the mixture turns to a custard that will coat the back of a spoon – 10 minutes.

    Remove from heat and pour the custard into the buttermilk, discarding anything solid that is caught in the strainer. Let the mixture cool in the fridge until cold and then churn in your ice cream maker, according to the instructions.

    This is especially good with fresh peaches or plums.

Yields: ice cream for 8
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cool time: an hour
Churn time: 30 minutes