There are two types of people in this world: peanut butter and jelly people, and peanut butter and honey people. (Ok, so there are probably anti-peanut butter people too, but for the purposes of this post we’ll pretend they don’t exist). Me? I’m the later. I’ll take a peanut butter & honey sandwich over stupid jelly any day.
I know I’ve declared my undying love for our local gelato shop here before, but I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve indulged. By far my favorite flavor is their peanut butter and honey gelato. It’s Incredible with a capital I. It’s a shame they don’t have it available in the case more often.
Let’s just say I’ve missed it. (The $11/quart price tag, however, I haven’t missed one bit.)
Faced with a surplus of milk and cream, I took it upon myself to recreate this magical flavor. The resulting ice cream is lightly scented with local honey, and then swirled with creamy peanut butter ribbons. It’s delightfully decadent and surprisingly light and refreshing, despite the copious amounts of cream and egg yolk (health food this most definitely is not).
I’m going to need a bigger bowl. Or maybe just 3 of them all to myself.
See this? This is what you call winning.
You should really make this, like, immediately.
Just don’t you dare substitute the honey with jelly.
Peanut Butter & Honey Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons honey*
pinch salt
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
Directions:
To make the ice cream, pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into a heat-proof bowl and nest inside a larger bowl filled with ice water. Place a fine mesh sieve over the top of both bowls.
In a saucepan, combine remaining cream, milk, sugar, honey, and salt. Cook gently over medium heat, stirring regularly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture just starts to steam. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly whisk in some of the warm cream mixture, 1/3 cup at a time, until about half of the cream mixture has been incorporated and yolk mixture is warm to the touch. You want to do this gradually; doing so will temper the egg yolks rather than cook them.
Pour yolk mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spatula, about 5 to 7 minutes, or until it reaches approximately 165 to 170ºF. Do not allow it to boil. Pour mixture through sieve into cold cream, discarding any solids. Add vanilla extract and stir until cool. Cover mixture with plastic wrap, carefully pressing wrap down onto the surface of the cream mixture. This will prevent a skin from forming on top of the custard. Refrigerate until completely cool, at least 3 hours or overnight if possible.
Just prior to churning the ice cream, spoon peanut butter into a piping bag fitted with a medium size round tip (you can also drop dollops of peanut butter in if you prefer, but I found the piping bag produced a more swirl-like result).
Churn ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions. When ice cream is the consistency of soft serve, squeeze in the peanut butter, swirling it evenly throughout the ice cream, then transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze overnight until firm.
*Note: I used a very dark local honey, one with a very strong flavor. I chose to use only 3 tablespoons so the honey flavor would be delicate and not overpowering. If you’re using a lighter honey, you may want to increase this a bit. Use your best judgement.
Did you make this recipe?
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