KEY LIME ICE CREAM PIE

Key Lime Ice Cream Pie

When I was a kid I once ate a lime lollipop and then had some milk and the milk tasted like it curdled in my mouth, so I have never considered citrus fruits as possible flavors to be combined with dairy products. I've had lemon ice, orange sorbet and even lime sherbet but I have never seen or heard of a citrus based ice cream. Until recently.

I was reading a new cookbook from Bi-Rite Creamery, based here in San Francisco, and I came across a recipe for Meyer Lemon Ice Cream and that got my brain to buzzing.

Back in 2010 I made a No-Bake Key Lime Pie from Cook's Country Magazine. The pie was delicious but I had trouble with the crust in the pie pan, especially when it came to serving the pie.  So I made the pie again but this time I customized the recipe by making it in a spring form pan, like a cheesecake. This was successful so I made another change.  First I made the "No-Bake Key Lime Pie" then I followed the recipe again, except I substituted lemons for limes and added another layer to the cake and I had a two layer No-Bake Key Lime/Lemon Pie.

Lemon/Lime No-Bake Pie

When I read about the the lemon ice cream I wondered if it would be possible to swap out the lemons with limes and make "Key Lime" flavored ice cream and then, by putting it on a graham cracker crust, make a "Key Lime" Ice Cream Pie (It's Key Lime in name only. I used regular Persian Limes)

The key to making Ice Cream is that all your ingredients need to be cold and you need to work fast.

Ingredients 
6 Limes
Sugar
12 Eggs
Heavy Cream
1/2 & 1/2
Kosher Salt
Graham Crackers
Unsalted Melted Butter.

Supplies: 
Large Bowl
Ice
Ice Cream Salt (optional)
Medium Bowls
Medium - non-reactive saucepan
Double Boiler set-up
Rubber Spatula or wooden spoon
Whisk
Dish Towel
Fine Mesh Strainer
1/2 cup measuring cup or ladle
Ice Cream Maker
Spring form pan or 9 inch cake pan
Micro plane for zesting
Juicer
Knife
Plastic utensil
Parchment paper
Scissors

Crust
Put oven rack in middle position and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Trace the base of the spring form pan onto parchment paper. Cut out and use to line bottom of pan.
In a food processor combine 8 or 9 graham crackers broken into small pieces and 2 tablespoons of sugar and pulse until fine crumbs about 30 seconds.
While pulsing pour in 5  tablespoons of unsalted melted butter. Crumbs should have the consistency of wet sand.

Transfer crumbs to spring form pan and pat down to form even layer across the bottom.

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 12 minutes until golden brown around the edges and your kitchen smells wonderful. Remove pan from oven and place on counter to cool.

Cool graham cracker crust on counter

Ice Cream
The Ice cream requires three steps. Making the lime flavoring (curd), making the ice cream base and freezing and forming the pie.

Place 2 inches of water in saucepan or double boiler and bring to a simmer

Whisk 7 egg yolks in the top bowl of the double boiler with 3 tablespoons of finely grated lime zest . Whisk in 3/4 cup of sugar and then whisk in 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice.  Place bowl over simmering water and stir regularly until mixture has thickened to texture of a pudding about 10 minutes.

Lime Zest and Lime Juice

Cook juice, zest, yolks and sugar in a double boiler

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer using a spatula to press the mixture through.

This is a lime curd that will be added to the ice cream base later. If made properly you should have 3/4 cup.

In a large bowl (bigger than your ice cream base prep bowl) create an ice bath with ice, water and ice cream salt (optional). Place an empty smaller bowl (I use metal because it will conduct the cold faster) into the ice bath water. This is where the ice cream base will be poured after it is cooked.

Use a dish towel to create a nest for your bowl. In the bowl whisk together 5 egg yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar.
In a saucepan mix 1 3/4 cups of Heavy Cream, 3/4 cups of half & half, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt. Heat over medium heat until mixture just begins to simmer. Using a 1/2 cup ladle scoop some of the cream mixture out and pour it into the egg yolk and sugar mixture to temper the egg yolks. Repeat this step with another ladle scoop. Continue to whisk. Once the yolks have been tempered pour the egg/cream mixture into the pan of simmering cream while whisking.

Continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes more until the mixture leaves a streak on the back of a spoon when swiped.

Cook yolks, sugar, salt, heavy cream and 1/2 $ 1/2 in a medium saucepan

Carefully pour the cream through a fine mesh strainer into the empty bowl in the ice bath. Continue to stir this mixture until it has cooled.

Cover the lime curd and ice cream base with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours or overnight.

Cover the spring form pan with foil and place in the freezer.

Making Ice Cream
Following the instructions on your ice cream maker freezer core in advance. Add chilled lime curd to  chilled base mixture  a little at a time stirring it in with a whisk. Put combined mixture into ice cream maker ( if desired add a few drops of green food coloring). Churn ice cream for about 25 minutes or follow instructions that came with machine. Working swiftly pour ice cream onto graham cracker crust in spring form pan and smooth out with an offset spatula. Cover pan with foil and freeze for a minimum of two hours or until ice cream is set.

Churning Ice Cream

Unlock spring form pan and use a rubber spatula or plastic knife around rim of pan to loosen ice cream pie. Remove base from ring and slide pie off base and on too a cutting board. Garnish with lime slices tossed in sugar and serve.

The pie had a delicious, tart lime flavor and the ice cream had a rich, creamy texture.

If you would like to know more about Bi-Rite Creamery and the their new book "Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones" go here:  http://biritecreamery.com

PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM

I begin 2014 with a new kitchen that inspires to be more creative with my cooking. I started the new year off by experimenting with recipes for Peppermint Ice Cream. I received an Ice Cream Maker as a gift last year. Actually I received a Williams-Sonoma gift card and I purchased an Ice Cream Maker with the card. My first ice cream I tried to make was Salted Caramel Ice Cream but I didn't really understand the principles of Ice Cream making so it didn't come out very well (plus I added too much sea salt! tasted like salt flavored ice cream.) Next I made some ice creams using the Williams-Somoma prepared mixes and they were good but they lacked that homemade taste. I wanted to make something special for the holidays so I decided to try Peppermint Ice Cream

After researching and reading about 10 different recipes and ice cream making techniques I had some ideas and felt I was ready to experiment. I went ahead and made a batch adopting different portions of each recipe and technique and the ice cream came out great. Here's the recipe below.

Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream

Ingredients:

5 Large Egg Yolks

2 cups Heavy Cream

1 cup Whole Milk 

1 cup sugar (divided in half)

1 tsp Kosher Salt

3 tsp Peppermint Extract

Red Food Coloring (optional)

1/2 cup Crushed Candy Canes or Starlite Candies

Whipped Cream (I used Reddi-whip)

Supplies:

Large Bowl

Ice

Ice Cream Salt (optional)

2 Medium Bowls

Medium - non-reactive saucepan

Rubber Spatula or wooden spoon

Whisk

Dish Towel

Fine Mesh Strainer

1/2 cup measuring cup or ladle

Ziplock bag

Meat Pounder, Rolling Pin or other heavy object

Ice Cream Maker

Storage Container

PART ONE

1.) Prepare and ice bath with water, ice and ice cream salt in the large bowl. Put one of the medium bowls in the ice bath to chill.

2.) In the other medium bowl whisk the 5 egg yolks until they are broken up. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and whisk until incorporated. Create a nest for the bowl with the dish towel to aid in mixing

3.) In the saucepan mix the heavy cream, milk, 1/2 cup of sugar and salt. Stir. Heat over medium high heat until dairy just begins to simmer. Reduce heat to medium. 

4.) Scoop a 1/2 cup of the heated dairy mixture and slowly add it to the eggs while constantly whisking. This will temper the eggs so they don't cook when added to the pan

5.) Repeat step 4, adding another half cup of dairy to the eggs while whisking

6.) Pour the egg mixture from the bowl into the sauce pan, stirring constantly and and continue to heat on medium heat until thickened - about 1-2 minutes. Don't leave the mixture unattended!  

7.) Pour the heated mixture into the second medium bowl in the ice bath through the fine mesh strainer

8.)  Stir until the mixture a few times until it cools.

9.) Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours or more. Can be left overnight>

This is your base mixture. Almost any flavor Ice Cream can be made from this mixture.

PART TWO

1.) Unwrap about 8 regular size candy canes or a large amount of peppermint candies. Place in a Ziplock bag and crush using the meat pounder or rolling pin.

2.) Measure out 1/2 cup and place in a bowl and put in the refrigerator until needed. If desired use a colander or other strainer to separate out fine "dust particles" and tiny pieces of crushed candy. This can be used as a topping.

3.) Follow the directions for your Ice Cream maker. Make sure all the equipment is properly chilled. I use a Cuisinart Stainless Steel 2 Qt. Ice Cream Maker - This recipe yields about 1 quart.

4.)Add 2 or 3 teaspoons of peppermint extract to the chilled base mixture and begin the freezing process. Add a few drops of red food coloring (if desired) while the mixture begins to churn

5.) Five minutes before the ice cream is finished take the crushed candy canes from the refrigerator and gradually add them to the ice cream until they are churned in.

6.) Remove ice cream from the ice cream maker and serve as soft serve or transfer to freezer to harden at least four hours. Ice Cream will keep about a week.

Suggested serving - top with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed candy cane dust.