One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the advent of peppermint ice cream, but now since I own an
- I thought I'd give a shot at making my own this year. I meant to post this recipe before Christmas, but I left for Maine and didn't bring the recipe with me. So now it can serve as a way to use all those leftover candy canes!
Peppermint Ice Cream
4-6 candy canes depending on how minty you like it
slightly less than 1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Crush candy canes until broken into fairly small bits (see photo). Combine half of the candy cane crumbles with the remainder of the ingredients and mix well. Put the mixture in the the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours up to leaving it overnight - this will allow the candy cane to dissolve into the mixture and I've found that it gives the ice cream a better consistency when you churn it.
After chilling the mixture, stir well and pour mixture into ice cream maker, making sure to scrape all the sugar and remaining bits of candy cane out. After the machine has been churning for about 15 minutes, add the remaining half of the candy cane, which will end up as crunchy bits in the finished product - if you're not a fan of crunchy things in your cream, add all the candy cane at the beginning. Churn the ice cream until desired consistency, mine ice cream maker usually takes a total of 45 minutes. Pour the ice cream into a container and put into the freezer until solid and enjoy - goes especially well with chocolate!
