Lemon Verbena Ice Cream From A French Country Herb Garden Recipes

LEMON VERBENA AND EARL GREY TEA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Make your Earl Grey tea, with loose tea or tea bags, if you must! Then add the dried lemon verbena, or 10 large fresh lemon verbena leaves, stir well and allow to infuse for 10 minutes.
• Put the freshly brewed Earl Grey tea, single cream and milk into a pan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until they thicken and pale. Remove the milk mixture from the heat, then whisk it into the egg mix.
• Put the whole lot back onto a gentle heat until it thickens, stirring very regularly. On no account should you let this boil, otherwise the eggs will scramble. Set it aside to cool with a dampened circle of greaseproof paper on the top, to stop a skin forming.
• When cool, either churn in an ice cream maker, adding the whipping cream towards the end of churning, or pour into a freezer-proof container, then cover it and freeze until half frozen. At this point, scoop it into a bowl, then whisk up the whipping cream and fold it into the ice cream. Put it back into the freezer until it is of ice cream consistency. You can repeat this as often as you can be bothered, to reduce the amount of crystals in the finished ice cream.
• Remove from the freezer at least 10 minutes before serving. Store for up to 3 months in the freezer.

LEMON VERBENA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Bring verbena, milk, cream, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, then remove from heat and let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
• Whisk together eggs and sugar until combined, then whisk in verbena mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard thickens slightly and registers 175°F on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil).
• Immediately strain thourough a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Cool custard, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes, then chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.
• Freeze custard in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, about 1 hour.

LEMON VERBENA ICE CREAM FROM A FRENCH COUNTRY HERB GARDEN

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, warm the lemon verbena leaves with all of the milk, 100ml of the cream and the sugar Press the leaves with the back of a wooden spoon to help the flavours release. Once warm, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for one to two hours.
• To make the ice cream custard, pour the remaining cream into a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, and put a sieve on top.
• Use a strainer or slotted spoon to skim the lemon verbena from the milk and squeeze the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible back into the saucepan, then discard them. Reheat the lemon verbena infusion then whisk the eggs together and slowing pour in the warm infusion, whisking constantly.
• Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan and cook, stirring continuously with a heatproof spatula, until the custard leaves a clear path on the spatula when you drag your finger across it.
• Immediately strain the custard into the bowl of cool cream and stir well until cool.
• Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve with fresh leaves for garnish and a little lemon syrup drizzled over for a flavour explosion!