Licorice Ice Cream

Adapted from A Sweet Quartet by Fran Gage (North Point Press, 2002) and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan, 2014)

I started making all my own ice cream when I moved to the country. I usually make one flavor—Sweet Cream—adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts by Jeni Britton Bauer, and I always keep a pint of it in the freezer.

But this ice cream is something different: delicate, soft buff in color, and gently elusive in flavor. Most people wouldn’t recognize it as licorice. It flummoxes them: Is this gingerbread? Is it chai? So I think it’s entirely possible that even people who claim not to like licorice might enjoy this, with its subtle hint of anise.

Makes 1 quart

600g whole milk
336g heavy cream
150g granulated sugar (I use Domino Golden Sugar)
3 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or corn syrup)
14g Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour (or cornstarch)
56g cream cheese
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 licorice tea bags (I use Yogi Egyptian Licorice Tea)

Prep Steps

Weigh the tapioca flour or cornstarch into a tiny prep bowl.

Weigh the 56g of cream cheese onto a small plate. Add the sea salt and press it in using a fork. Transfer the salted cream cheese to a container you can later blend the hot mixture into. (I use the container that came with my immersion blender—it works perfectly.)

Measure the Lyle’s Golden Syrup into a small glass (I use a 5-ounce measure). You can microwave it for about 30 seconds if you want it to pour more easily.

Cook the Base

In your saucepan, pour in the milk. Scoop out a small amount and mix it thoroughly with the tapioca flour in the prep bowl. Set this slurry aside.

Add the cream, sugar, and syrup to the milk in the saucepan. Stir, and bring to a low boil. Boil gently for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat. Remove the tags from the tea bags and add them to the pan. Let steep for 15 minutes.

At the end of the steeping time, remove the tea bags and squeeze them gently to extract all the flavor.

Stir the mixture in the pan. Stir the tapioca slurry again to ensure it’s smooth, then add it to the pan. Bring it back to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for one minute. No more. Remove from heat.

Blend and Chill

Add a little of the hot mixture to the salted cream cheese and blend until smooth. (An immersion blender works well here.) Return that mixture to the pan and stir to combine. Strain the whole mixture through a fine sieve into an 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup or other easy-pour container.

Transfer the base to a lidded container (or a well-sealed zip-top bag, if that’s your method). Place it in an ice bath: I use a large stainless bowl, add cold water around the container without letting it spill in, and chill it down with reusable ice packs.

Once cool, refrigerate the mixture overnight to cure.

Spin and Store

The next day, spin the chilled base in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the finished ice cream into two pint-size cardboard containers. (I cut 6-inch parchment circles to place on top before sealing.)

Let the ice cream firm in the freezer for at least 8 hours before serving.