Licorice Ice Cream

Adapted from A Sweet Quartet by Fran Gage

The "sweet quartet" being sugar, almonds, eggs, and butter.

Makes 1 quart

This is my first post using my brand new MacBook. I'm very excited to have it; at the same time, as user-friendly as it is, I am slowly wending my way around MacWorld and trying to learn how to use it effectively. So far I have lost my Blogger menu bar and can't link or change font sizes, and the spellcheck isn't working right either. But I will master it at some point and hope to have fun doing so. Chris, if you have any suggestions, let me know. I know O isn't reading my blog while she's in London.

In case you don't know, I'm kind of a licorice junkie. By licorice, of course, I mean the black stuff. The red stuff isn't really licorice, is it? I don't know how many people reading this also love licorice. I know Mandi does. I think Marsha does. I know Dorie Greenspan does. But Dorie Greenspan isn't exactly reading my blog. I have posed the theory that love (or even like) of licorice is on a gene because there seem to be whole countries made up of people who eat licorice - for instance Holland and Australia. But no one seems particularly interested in this theory. (I have the same theory about cilantro, because to some people it tastes delicious - I'm in that group - and to some people it tastes like soap - Walter is in that group. But that's a whole different topic.)

I'm thinking that I would like to come up with a variation of creme brulee that is licorice - or at least anise - flavored, so I'm pondering how to do this. Maybe using an anise-flavored liqueur like Sambuca or infusing it with star-anise, a la Jean-Georges. I'm also pondering who will eat it with me, but, I'll worry about that later.

This ice cream is lovely and delicate tasting with a delightful soft buff color. It reminds me of the licorice ice cream I had sent to my room at the Hotel Lutetia in Paris when Marsha, Jane, and I stayed there in 2006. The taste is so elusive, I'm not sure you would even recognize it as being licorice. But you might not be able to trust me about this.

Instead of following the instructions given below, you can adapt the no-fail Miracle Ice Cream Technique from Stephanie at La Cuisine with confidence.

1½ cups (12 ounces) whole milk
2 licorice-root tea bags (I use Yogi Tea)
⅔ cup (4½ ounces) granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
1½ cups (12 ounces) heavy whipping cream

Put the milk and tea bags in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, and steep for 15 minutes. Press down on the tea bags, then remove them from the pan. Bring the infused milk back to a boil.

While the milk is reheating, whisk the sugar with the egg yolks in a bowl. In a steady stream and constantly whisking so you don't scramble the yolks, pour the hot milk into the yolks. Return this custard to the saucepan, and cook it over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens, and coats the spoon. You know you are at the right point, if you remove the spoon from the pan, and when you run a finger over the spoon, the custard stays separate (meaning the line you make with your finger remains). It will register 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Do not let the custard boil.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, and stir in the cream. Put this bowl into an ice bath - either a larger bowl filled with ice or a sink filled with ice. When the custard is cool, remove the bowl from the ice, and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the custard for a minimum of 5 hours or overnight.

At this point, when the custard is cold, follow the directions that came with your ice cream maker to turn it into ice cream.