Double Mint Ice Cream

As I walked outside this morning I was greeted by the smell of gardenia.  A gardenia bush sits at the edge of my driveway and each morning for the past week I have enjoyed the scent of gardenia in bloom.  The weather has been warm for several weeks in New Orleans so the garden is green and lush and the flowers are budding and blooming. 

My herbs have also taken off.  I have three kinds of mint in my garden this year - spearmint, peppermint and chocolate mint.  I bought the latter two at the farmers market after I found out they are the type of mint used in my favorite mint ice cream - Jeni's Backyard Mint.  This week I finally had enough mint to make some mint ice cream of my own.

The result was, well, minty.  I prefer a very strong peppermint taste so I think next time I would add a little more peppermint.  The chocolate mint gives the ice cream an earthy and deeper mint flavor.  Enjoy!

Double Mint Ice Cream
Slightly adapted from recipe by Jeni Briton Bauer

Mint ice cream can be made with any combination of mint.  It also pairs really well with chocolate so feel free to throw in some chocolate chips if you have some in your pantry.

2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (11 g) cornstarch
2/3 cup (130 g) cane sugar
1/8 cup corn syrup
3 Tablespoon (1.5 oz) cream cheese, softened
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup peppermint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chocolate mint leaves, roughly chopped

Fill a large bowl with ice water.  In a small bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch.  In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Set a fine mesh sieve over the bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a low boil over medium heat. Boil until the mixture begins to thicken, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture.  Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened (draw a line on a spoon), about 1 minute. 

Gradually pour the hot milk mixture through the sieve into the cream cheese and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in salt.  Add peppermint and chocolate mint leaves and let steep at room temperature for 20 minutes. 

Place a fine mesh seive over a medium bowl.  Pour mint-infused mixture through sieve.  Press down firmly on the mint leaves to extract as much of the flavor as possible.  Discard the mint.  Set the bowl in the ice water bath, and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cool, about 20 minutes. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator to fully chill, at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, pour ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.