Saffron Ice Cream (hand churned)

1 cup cream,
1 cup milk
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar

Before you start the ice cream, make sure the bowl for blending your ice cream is completely frozen and place an empty container in the freezer to chill.
Pour the cream, milk, and saffron into a long-handled pot. Stir occasionally and bring to a gentle boil. Set this aside and let infuse for approximately 30 minutes; any longer and it will need to be refrigerated.

Before you start the Cr�me Anglaise, prepare an ice bath. Pour the saffron cream into a clean pot over medium heat.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they are thick and light in color.
Once the mixture just comes to a boil, temper the eggs by slowly pouring in the hot liquid while constantly whisking.
Whisk until there are no sugar granules left in the bowl.
Pour this mixture back into a pot over medium heat. At this point, itÕs very important to stir constantly. Don't let the mixture boil or the eggs will curdle. Keep stirring and test it occasionally on the back of a wooden spoon. Once done, quickly strain into a bowl and place into the ice bath.
For food safety reasons, itÕs very important to bring down the temperature as fast as possible. Stir and cool the mixture down until it is at least 4¡ degrees Celsius or 40¡ degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour the mixture in to the chilled bowl and place in the freezer. After the mixture has been sitting in the freezer for 20 minutes or so, take it out, and if it has been in there long enough you should notice a thick layer of ice crystals coating the inside of the container. Unseal the container and using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the ice crystals that have formed on the sides into the center, and then beat the mixture thoroughly to prevent the further formation of ice crystals and to lighten it with air.

The tiny pockets of air beaten into the ice cream make it smooth and easy to scoop. Ice cream without beating is similar to bread that has not risen. Therefore, to be creamy smooth, ice cream requires beating.

Try to not let the semi-frozen mixture melt too much while beating. An electric hand-held beater can be used to great advantage and it will make this step much easier.

Reseal the container and return it to the freezer. Leave it for another 30 minutes or so and then repeat the scraping and beating process. If the mixture freezes too hard, simply place it in the refrigerator compartment until it is again just soft enough to beat. This is common practice when you make your own ices.

Depending on the ingredients used and the temperature of your freezer, you may have to repeat this step up to three or four times until the mixture is creamy smooth in texture, but firmly frozen.

After the last beating, you may pack the ice cream in molds for freezing or simply reseal the container and return it to the freezer.

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Ice cream has fewer ice crystals and a smoother texture when it freezes quickly. So to hasten the freezing, first chill the major ingredients in the refrigerator and freeze the empty freezer container in the freezer compartment before you begin to mix the ingredients.

Finally, after you place the sealed container containing the ice cream mixture in the freezer, surround it with other frozen food items to hasten the freezing process.

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user OPUSTALIS.