Apple Pie Ice Cream

Earlier this week I dragged out my ice cream machine, dusted off the cobwebs, and shortly after splashed out on a fabulous new book "jenis splendid ice creams at home" by Jeni Britton Bauer, which I found found in Barns & Noble.
All my children have told me of Jenis fabulous ice creams, so when I saw her book I just had to buy it.
Edi absolutely raves about the 'salty caramel ice cream', so I made a batch, carefully following her recipe, it was so easy and absolutely delicious; after having successfully made my first ice cream in 5 years, I decided to create a flavor of my own.

Everyone loves apple pie and ice cream,  so I thought "how about making an apple pie ice cream"?
This was very much an experiment, but judging by how fast it disappeared I think It's good enough to share.  It was exactly like eating apple pie and ice cream, just minus the crust.

I tweaked Jeni's recipe for the base ice cream, just a bit.  The result was a rich, creamy apple and cinnamon ice cream, with little chunks of chewy apple; the flavors and smells reminded me of Christmas, delicious...

Apple Pie Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 3/4 cup whole milk

1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

3/4 cup vanilla sugar, recipe follows

2 tbsp light corn syrup

seeds from 1 vanilla pod

3 apples (I like to use granny smiths)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 level tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon

1 ounce unsalted butter

Peel and medium dice the apples, in a sauce pan over a medium heat melt the butter and then add the apples with the lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, ground cloves and sugar, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 4-5 minutes until the apples are soft but not mushy.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.


In a small bowl mix a little of the milk (about 2 tbsp) with the cornstarch to make a smooth slurry.


In a medium size bowl whisk the cream cheese and salt together until smooth, and set aside.


Mix the remaining milk, cream, vanilla sugar and corn syrup together in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.   


Continue to boil for 4 minutes.


Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cornstarch mix. 


Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook until the mixture has thickened slightly, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla seeds.


Slowly pour the hot mix into the bowl with the cream cheese, and whisk until smooth, set aside to cool for about 45 minutes.


Buzz the apple mix in a blender for about 30 seconds, just enough to puree some of the apples, but still leaving about half the mix with apple pieces.


Pour the apple mix into the cream mix, and using a spatula stir to evenly incorporate the apple with the cream.


Pour the entire mix into the frozen ice cream canister, and spin until the mix resembles thick ice cream (about 30 - 40 minutes).


Put the mix into a storage container with an air tight lid, and freeze for 2 - 4 hours.

Vanilla Sugar

1 lb fine sugar

1 vanilla bean, split

Put the sugar into a screw top jar,  push the vanilla bean into the center of the sugar, and leave for a minimum of 7 days.  


Enjoy :o)