Ginger Lemon and Honey Ice Cream

You probably already know about my love affair with anything ginger [and no, I am not talking about my husband ;-)] If you didn't, well, then I love ginger. Fresh, candied, sauced, cooked... you name it, I'll eat it.

My favourite ginger recipe of all time is 'Alyaso Doas'... basically ginger preserved in a sugar syrup. My mum makes it at home, and I ate it by the bottleful. I haven't attempted to make it yet, as I have just not found the right tenderness in the ginger here. When I find fresh root ginger that's tender, with a bite and no strings, I'll make this recipe, which takes about a week to make. And then live happily ever after!

Until then, this Ginger Lemon and Honey Icecream will have to tide me over. Ginger, lemon and honey are old friends. I am sure we've all had honey ginger lemon tea, and been soothed by the citrus, while our colds have been chased away by the warm spiciness of the ginger, our tastebuds tickled with the honey!!

The base for this recipe the Lemon Icecream from David Lebovitz's 'The Perfect Scoop'... what do you mean, you haven't heard of David Lebovitz? Here's his site, and I promise you'll never leave it (just come back to mine ocasionally, please!)

I have made his original recipe, which is delicious, but tinkered a bit with this particular one, and I must admit, its turned out really nice. This icecream probably won't cure a cold, but it will give you a refreshing blast of summer citrus loveliness with a warm hint of wintery gingeriness, with the sticky sweet honey as a counterpoint.

What better way to welcome autumn?

Recipe:

Finely shredded zest of 2 lemons
Juice from 2 lemons or more depending on the juiciness of the lemons (make it up to 125 ml or 1/2 a cup)
Around 3 tbsp of ginger juice (crush root ginger in a blender, and strain out the juice using a cheesecloth)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups of half and half (single cream, substitute whipping cream for extra creaminess)
A pinch of salt
A generous handful of candied ginger, chopped fine
A few tablespoons of honey

Put the sugar, lemon zest, lemon and ginger juice into a blender and blend thoroughly until the sugar is dissolved (alternatively, use an eletric mix to whiz the mixture up). Add the half and half/ cream to the mixture and blend till its all well combined.

Chill in a fridge for about an hour or more. Take the chilled mixture out, and stir together, then churn in an icecream machine, adding the candied ginger bits halfway through the process. Swirl in the honey while transferring the icecream to a freezer safe container.

If you don't have an icecream machine, put the prepared mixture, without the honey, into a freezer safe container, stir in the ginger bits and freeze for about 2 hours. Take out and whiz it up, to break up the ice crystals, repeating this step every hour for 2 hours. Swirl in the honey. Then leave to freeze overnight.

The icecream will be fairly hard, so (if you have the patience) leave to soften for a few minutes before serving.