How to Make Lavender Ice Cream at Home
This lavender ice cream recipe combine a few simple ingredients together, including culinary lavender, to produce the creamiest, most-delicious homemade ice cream. Cooling the ice cream in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours before churning is the secret behind its creamy texture. Ready to eat after 8 hours of freezing.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 415kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp culinary lavender flowers
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add whole milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract to a medium pan. Heat cream until warm. Pour cream into a small bowl with the lavender flowers. Steep for 30 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl. Whisk until a smooth consistency. Set aside.
- Strain the cream back into the pan. Heat cream until hot and smoke is being emitted from the cream. Turn off the heat.
- Add 1/4 cup of the hot cream to the eggs and whisk until it turns a smooth and uniform yellow color. The goal of this step is to raise the temperature of the eggs, so they don’t completely cook in the hot cream. Pour the eggs into the pan with hot cream.
- Turn the heat back on and heat the cream until it reaches 170 degrees F. A good way to test if it’s done is to coat the back of a spoon with the cream and pull your finger through the cream. A done cream should have a thick, smooth trail that doesn’t break. Take the cream off the heat.
- Cool the cream down to room temperature and then put it in the fridge to cool completely. The cream should be in the fridge for about 6-8 hours. This may seem like a lot but this creates a creamier texture.
- Pour the cream into an ice cream maker and churn for 10-15 minutes. The resulting ice cream should be slightly harder than soft serve.
- Spoon the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.
Notes
- Use culinary lavender, not aromatic lavender - Culinary lavender is used for cooking and aromatic lavender is used for things like candles. The biggest different between culinary and aromatic lavender is the amount of oil. Culinary lavender will have less oil, so the lavender flavor will be more subtle.
- Temper your eggs – Just like in creme brûlées, it is important to temper your eggs for the cream. Add 1/4 cup of hot cream to your egg and sugar mixture. Whisk until everything is well combined and no white streaks remain. Now, it is safe to add your egg mixture to the hot cream.
- Make sure your cream is cold before churning – You will get better results if your cream is cold. Put your finished cream into the refrigerator for 6-8 hours. This is a long time, but the colder your cream is, the creamier the texture of your ice cream will be.
- Be careful not to over churn – The maximum amount of time you should churn your ice cream is 20 minutes. The more you churn your ice cream, the harder it becomes. A done ice cream will have the consistency of something slightly harder than soft serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 332mg | Sodium: 60mg | Potassium: 150mg | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 1298IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 137mg | Iron: 1mg