lemon thyme ice cream

I have been buying kitchen gadgets for over thirty years. I own every conceivable pot, pan, knife, peeler, mold – you name it; I own it. I have worn out three stand mixers and four food processors. And yet despite being a crazed collector of anything cooking related, I have never owned an ice cream maker. I bought one and gave it to my mom for Christmas ten years ago. Last summer she regifted it to me. She said I would get more use out of it. Adorable! only my mom can return my gift to her and make me feel delighted. I really was over the moon. For some reason, I could never get my head around buying myself one. Which makes absolutely no sense given that I am the proud owner of an electric spice grinder, pasta machine, meat slicer, panini press, deep fryer…you get the picture!

Last summer I played around with all sorts of fruit combinations in our almost daily ice cream fest. After dinner one night Ralph actually said to me, “all we have for dessert is homemade ice cream?” Not in a grateful kind of way but in more of a ‘that’s it?’ kind of way. The ice cream wasn’t the only chill he got that night!

I love the favour of lemons. I particularly love it combined with sugar. This past weekend, while I was weeding my herb garden, I caught the beautiful aroma of my lemon thyme. It’s magical. Sort of a spicy, lemony fresh scent. I thought about chopping some up to throw into a batch of vanilla ice cream but I didn’t think that I would like frozen bits of grass in my velvety frozen dessert.

Later in the afternoon, while I was sipping a cup of tea, I had a culinary epiphany! Perhaps ‘epiphany’ is a little dramatic but definitely exciting. I would infuse the cream with the lemon thyme – just like making tea – then strain the herbs and use the heavenly scented lemon thyme cream to make this summers first batch of ice cream.

If you do not own an ice cream maker, buy one. They are inexpensive and an absolute ball to use. Trust me – I wouldn’t trade mine for anything!!! Sorry Mom, you can’t have it back…

Lemon Thyme Ice Cream

serves 8

2 cups heavy cream, scalded

1 ounce lemon thyme, leaves and tender green stems [ no woody bits ]

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups heavy cream, chilled

Stir sugar into scalded cream until dissolved

Place lemon thyme in medium-sized bowl and pour hot cream and sugar mixture over top

Allow the herb to infuse the cream for 1 hour

Strain the herb from the cream mixture then place liquid in refrigerator until well chilled

Combine cream/sugar mixture with additional cream and vanilla extract

Follow the manufacturer’s directions from your ice cream maker.

It’s summer in a bowl!

Thanks for reading