Cardamom Ice Cream

This winter I have been on a bit of an ice cream kick.  For a few weeks, we were able to eat homemade ice cream every night if we wanted to.  Even as I write this, I'm thinking of flavors that I want - no, need - to try.  When I first received our ice cream maker as a wedding gift, cardamom ice cream was the first flavor I made.  I'm not really sure why I started with cardamom, but it was amazing. 

 

 

 

I had forgotten all about that first ice cream until our friend, Andy, reminded me about how good it was.  It was right before he left for a nice long and well-deserved vacation, and by the time I had the ice cream churned, he was already halfway across the world seeing cool things and sending amazing photos.  Andy's photos always make me want to travel, and he was kind enough to say I could share some with you. 

 

Tree, Sunlight.

Waterbuck.

 

Some more trees and clouds.

Leaving the Mara.

 

Boats on the river.

Buddhas in a row, Vientiane.

Young friendly monk.

Valley past Vang Vieng.

Upper part of Kuang Si waterfall.

Are you two seconds away from booking a flight like Scott and I are?  I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a little jealous.  Luckily I can drown my travel envy in pools of melting cardamom ice cream.  Soon enough Andy will be back in D.C., and I have plans to whip this up again with some pistachios in it to share with him.  No one should have to miss out on cardamom ice cream, even if he is on an amazing vacation!

Notes:
You can totally make this with only ground cardamom.  I was aiming to use all cardamom pods for this, but the ones I had were about 2 years old and weren't giving me the flavor level that I wanted, so I just dumped in some ground cardamom.  So, don't feel like you need to go out an buy cardamom pods to make this.  Of course, if you already have them hanging out in your pantry, this is a good way to use them!  Also, this recipe could be jazzed up with some pistachios.  A co-worker told me she has seen cardamom-pistachio ice cream in the store, and it sounded like a perfect addition.  The next time I make this, I'm dumping in a half cup or so of toasted chopped pistachios!  I like to freeze the container I'm going to store the ice cream in while I churn the ice cream so the container is cold when I add the ice cream to it. 

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments

Ingredients:
20 green cardamom pods
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided use
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Yields about 1 quart

Crush, Toast, Heat, Mix, Chill, Churn:
Crush the cardamom pods using a mortar and pestle.  Lightly toast the crushed cardamom in a medium-sized pan until fragrant.  Add one cup of the heavy whipping cream, the sugar, salt, and ground cardamom to the pan, and heat the mixture, stirring regularly, until the sugar is fully dissolved.  The mixture may boil a bit at the edges of the pan, and that is ok.  Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium-sized bowl, and add the remaining heavy whipping cream, the whole milk, and the vanilla extract, and stir to combine.  Discard the seeds and pod husks that were strained out.  Cover the mixture and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, until chilled.  Churn the chilled mixture using the instructions provided with your ice cream maker.  Once the ice cream is fully churned, transfer the ice cream to the chilled container.  (If you're adding pistachios, add them now.)  Press a piece of plastic wrap (to prevent ice crystals from forming) onto the surface of the ice cream, and freeze until the ice cream is firm.  Enjoy!
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