Caramelised honey tahini ice cream

Hi!

I know it’s been more quiet here than I intended. Turns out writing a book is a lot of work, who knew? Luckily my dearest friend Maya has been a recipe rock, helping me with everything from testing to weeding out my worst typos. This ice cream is inspired by a riff of theirs on my salty honey-tahini ice cream, so a riff on a riff. I think the best ideas happen when bounced back and forth and this ice cream is no exception!

Caramelised honey tahini ice cream

Makes 1l

400g whole milk
100g heavy cream
30g skimmed milk powder (optional, but improves texture and mouthfeel)

60g honey, I used chestnut

50g sugar

50g brown sugar
80g egg yolks (about 4 large yolks) or 3g locust bean gum

100g tahini

Zest of 1 clementine or mandarin

1 cinnamon stick

4 green cardamom pods

4 whole cloves

1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, to taste

Salt, to taste

Sprinkle the sugar in an even layer in the bottom of a saucepan and cook without stirring to a dark amber caramel. Whisk in the honey.

If using egg yolks: Add milk, cream, skimmed milk powder to a heavy bottom pot and heat until steaming hot, but do not bring to a boil. Carefully pour the hot milk mixture over the caramelised honey.

Whisk the egg yolks with the brown sugar until pale and airy. Pour about 200ml hot milk over the egg yolks while whisking thoroughly. Return the mixture to the saucepan over low heat and cook while stirring to 82C.

If using stabiliser: Add milk, cream, skimmed milk powder, brown sugar and locust bean gum to a heavy bottom pot and heat until steaming hot, but do not bring to a boil. Carefully pour the hot milk mixture over the caramelised honey.

Remove from heat, stir in tahini and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Chill in an ice water bath until cooled, or immediately cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture overnight.

Season the ice cream to taste with salt and nutmeg, remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom pods and liquify the ice cream mixture with a hand blender. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.