I froze lots and lots and lots of ice cream when writing this book. It was a treat having freshly made ice cream every day, but space in my freezer soon became an issue, and more than once a frozen brick of ice cream slipped out, nearly crashing down on my foot. I eventually realized that it was impossible (and a little dangerous) to coexist with too many flavors all at once. Consequently, I passed off lots of ice cream to friends, neighbors, local shopkeepers, and occasionally a startled delivery man. All were more than happy to take a quart off my hands. But I guarded this Malted Milk Ice Cream, saving it all for myself. The recipe calls for malt powder, which is usually found in the ice cream aisle of your supermarket. Sometimes, however, it’s stocked alongside chocolate drink mixes like Ovaltine, which isn’t the same thing and shouldn’t be used here. The most common brands of malt powder are Carnation and Horlicks. (See Resources, page 237, for online sources.)
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 1/2 quarts (1 1/2 liter)
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Warm the half-and-half, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, vanilla, and malt powder and set a mesh strainer on top.
Step 2
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
Step 3
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and whisk it into the malted milk mixture. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
Step 4
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, fold in the chopped malted milk balls.
Perfect Pairing
Step 5
Add crumbled Chewy-Dense Brownies (page 221) or Dark Chocolate Truffles (page 211) for Chocolate–Malted Milk Ice Cream.
