Thursday, August 21, 2014

Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek)

Welcome to Day 4 of Ice Cream Week 2014! This year the event is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. We have teamed up with 25 amazing bloggers to satisfy all your Ice Cream Cravings.

Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek) by Farm Fresh Feasts

So far on #IceCreamWeek I've shared How to Make an Ice Cream Pie at Home, Chocolate Beet Milkshakes, and Lazy Leftover Fruit Salad Ice Cream. All of these are pretty easy to throw together. It's time to get real to work. This is a two part recipe. Today I'll share the ice cream, and tomorrow I'll share the Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches I made with it.
Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek) by Farm Fresh Feasts

Today's ice cream is spiced with cinnamon, primarily because a bag of cassia (cinnamon) chunks caught my eye at the spice store. Apparently they are great to add to coffee grounds for a spiced brew . . . except I'm a tea drinker and prefer my Lady Grey with a splash of cream. As a result of my impulse buy I had this bag of cinnamon chunks that needed something to do, so I put the chunks to work transferring all that lovely cinnamon oil to an ice cream base.

Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek) by Farm Fresh Feasts

My inspiration was a steeped cacao nib ice cream in Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert cookbook. Cacao nibs and cassia chunks are NOT interchangeable [eat nibs, not chunks--hey, that could be a t-shirt slogan] but for the purpose of this recipe it's a good swap. To be honest, I chose this recipe because it didn't involve cooking egg yolks. I have a thing about separating edible foods--why use the chard leaves and toss the stems? Why toss the beet greens in favor of the beets? Why all the fuss about egg white omelets--what's wrong with the whole egg in an omelet? I'll stick with heavy cream and sugar, thanks. With the exception of molten chocolate lava cakes, I have yet to meet a dessert worthy of me ending up with forlorn egg whites looking for a good home [any attempts to change my mind are encouraged, my spoon is ready].

Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek) by Farm Fresh Feasts

Note: because this ice cream base is warmed, it needs to chill a good long time before churning. I find it easiest to get this started the night before, while I'm finishing up dinner activities in the kitchen. That way the ice cream can chill overnight, and I can churn whenever I'm ready the following day.

You will need a stove top/hot plate, a freezer, and an ice cream maker for this recipe.

Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (makes 3½ cups, or a generous bowl and enough for tomorrow's ice cream sandwiches)

1½ cups (12 ounces) heavy cream
1½ cups (12 ounces) whole milk
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cassia chunks (I think broken cinnamon sticks should substitute)
⅛ teaspoon salt (I used kosher)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring all ingredients to a simmer. Remove from heat and cover for 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, discard the cinnamon chunks, and chill for at least 4 hours (overnight works great). Freeze the ice cream according to manufacturer's instructions, mine took about 25 minutes to get to soft serve stage. Transfer to a freezer and freeze for at least an hour to firm up. Serve, or have a bowl and save the rest for Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches.


Be sure to stop by all of today’s Ice Cream Week Participants:



6 comments:

  1. Oh, yeah, this is perfect to fill a snickerdoodle sandwich...but I bet it stands alone deliciously, too!

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  2. Oh man those cookie sandwiches look incredible. Cinnamon ice cream is a favorite of mine by they only sell it here seasonally! I need to make this!

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  3. You'll have to get in the t-shirt slogan business now. Slogan on the front, ice cream in the back.

    I'm pretty sure I actually have an ice cream maker somewhere in the recesses of the basement. I'm thinking I need to bust it out after witnesses ice cream week. That and it's finally hot enough here to warrant eating ice cream. Not that I wouldn't eat it in cold weather either. Just not as frequently. Ah heck, probably just the same.

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  4. I love cinnamon ice cream, one of my ultimate favorites!!

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  5. This is so interesting! And I've seaprated eggs for ice cream then used the whites to make an angel food cake to scoop the ice cream on top of. Or even meringue cookies to make ice cream sandwiches.

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  6. This looks over the top amazing! Thanks for linking up with What's Cookin' Wednesday!

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