this one goes out to Mary Jo.

Ice cream=la glace

Must try Maison du Miel's Heather Honey Ice Cream Recipe, that I have borrowed, (may or may not return the recipe...), from 101 cookbooks. This honey ice cream tastes as good as it looks. Four ingredients; plump vanilla beans, heavy cream, whole milk, and honey. That's it.

You can make this ice cream. It is one of the simplest ice cream/gelato recipes I've ever come across. No eggs, no cornstarch, no thickening custards....A great recipe to try if you want an easy way to break in that new ice cream maker you got over the holidays.Or if you did not receive a maker, go out and get a Krup's. That is what I plan to do, as soon as I have money...and a permanent address. :)


Maison du Miel's Heather Honey Ice Cream Recipe
2 plump, moist vanilla beans
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heather honey (or substitute another aromatic honey such as chestnut or eucalyptus)
Flatten the vanilla beans and cut them in half lengthwise. With a small spoon, scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and pods in a large saucepan. Add the cream, milk, and honey. Stir to dissolve the honey. Heat over moderate heat, stirring from time to time, just until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let steep, covered, for 1 hour.
Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (note: v. important)
Remove the vanilla pods, and stir the mixture again to blend. transfer it to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
From The Paris Cookbook by Patricia Wells (Harper Collins, 2001)

I know the weather is a bit drab, definitely cold and almost always raining to be precise...but ice cream was just on my mind...I guess I will have to settle for gelato, berthillion, or ben & jerry's...I was shocked when I saw one in Paris the other day! :)

Photo via Garance Doré