Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream (Crystal Ball Farm)
• 1/2 cup milk (Crystal Ball Farm)
• 6 egg yolks (from my chickens)
• 1/3 cup sugar (could substitute local honey!)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (could substitute local maple syrup!)
• 3/4 cup Autumn Harvest Sweet Wine

Instructions:

Make a custard! Combine milk and cream in saucepan on medium heat.  Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add wine. Heat until mixture becomes frothy at edges, stirring regularly to prevent scorching.

In separate bowl, beat six egg yolks.

“It is light and refreshing. Its flavor profile is subtle, and would go well with a fruit compote, fresh berries, or a wine reduction. Using more wine would help elevate it. Four stars.”

Pour about a third of the heated mixture into a container that’s easy to pour from (a spout or lip and a handle makes this job easier!).  Place yolk bowl on a cloth to hold it in place.  Pour the hot mixture into the yolks so slowly that you think you’ll never finish, stirring constantly.  This will temper the egg yolks, which prevents them from scrambling from the heat.  Seriously, go slower.  Like, a few drips at a time at first, eventually building up to a tiny stream. Phew, that took a long time.

Pour the yolk-cream back into your pouring container, so that you can pour it into the remaining cream JUST AS SLOWLY as you did before.  Keep the saucepan on low heat as you go.

Once the entire mixture is combined – pretty much 100 years later – heat the custard to about 170ºF, stirring constantly.

Strain the custard into a clean bowl.  If you tempered the eggs well, the straining will seem pointless.  If you didn’t get it just right, this will reveal and remove some scrambled egg yolks, crushing the confidence you had that you really pulled it off perfectly.

Cover the custard with plastic wrap, ensuring that the wrap comes in contact with the entire surface area of the mixture.  This will prevent a film from forming on the top of the custard.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours, or overnight.

Fast Forward:

Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker to the end of the road.  This makes about a quart of ice cream.

With comments ranging from “I can’t taste the wine in this at all,” to “I won’t eat this, because it tastes like wine,” this recipe is a great conversation starter for family gatherings.  It can be made by a clever chef using only local ingredients, allowing one to take a hoity-toity tone when explaining the process of making it. Overall, it’s a subtle, slightly alcoholic dessert that benefits greatly from the tones of peach in Autumn Harvest’s product.

Reviews:

“Had I been served this rich, custardy ice cream without being told it contained wine, I don’t know if I would have been quite able to place its refreshing, fruity aftertaste. That being said, it does taste pleasantly of wine, but not overly so.”

“It wasn’t bad, but personally, I’d rather just eat a bowl of ice cream and a have glass of wine - separately.”

“It is light and refreshing. Its flavor profile is subtle, and would go well with a fruit compote, fresh berries, or a wine reduction. Using more wine would help elevate it. Four stars.”