Honey Curd Ice Cream

If you are an ice cream aficionado like we are, autumn and winter can be a tough time for you. Yes, there are cookies and Stollen, but for some reason it’s almost impossible to find good ice cream in Vienna. All the shops are closed! I don’t get it, why wouldn’t you love some ice cream even on a cold winter day? Well, if no one does it for you, you have to make some yourself.

This recipe was born as a band-aid for Chantal when she barely was able to eat anything after her jaw surgery. We needed something full of protein, easy to eat and cool to sooth the pain. Thankfully this ice cream turned out to be so easy to make and so delicious, it can easily be a dessert for any occasion, no surgery needed 😉 .

Ingredients

• 250g Curd or other protein rich cream cheese
• Runny honey to taste (at least one tablespoon)
• Additional sweetener (if needed to taste)
• Vanilla essence or aroma
• 0,5g Guar gum
• 0,5g Carob gum

Ingredients are for half a litre of ice cream, which is the most my ice cream machine can handle. Feel free to scale up or down, depending on the machine you use. Half a litre is a nice amount for Chantal and me, but you could split this up for up to four persons. Guar and carob gum give a nicer texture, but are not essential if you don’t have them around.

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients with 250ml water and a pinch of salt in a blender. Feel free to add some spices as you see fit. I think vanilla is a must, everything else is negotiable. Cardamom is a nice fit, as is cinnamon or ground cloves. Just don’t overdo it, as you might loose the honey taste.

You could let the mixture settle overnight or for a few hours in the fridge, but I’m not very patient when it comes down to ice cream. Therefore I used it immediately and it turned out great.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and prepare the ice cream according to the machines instructions. Mine took fifty minutes to ultimate creamyness. Don’t forget to put some bowls in the freezer as the ice cream is made. Nobody wants their ice cream to melt immediately as they touch warm bowls.

Serve in ice cold bowls and drizzle with additional honey, maple syrup or sugar free syrup as you like.

Macros and Variation

I didn’t calculate macros for this recipe as they will vary wildly depending of the exact type of cream cheese, curd, greek joghurt or skyr you used, as well on how much honey you want to add. If you are not keen on honey or are quite deprived on calories to spend, you could also cut the honey completely.

Instead of honey you could use a nice marmelade or jam. Perhaps you have some left and need a nice way to use it up. I could see a beautyful orange marmalade ice cream. Or maybe apricot jam … or fig? As we are talking about fruits, feel free to use some seasonal, fresh fruits as garnish.

Oh, if you have some leftover mulled wine, you could use it instead of water to make the mixture. I can imagine this would be a really refreshing, christmasy ice cream! Or you could reduce the mulled wine in a pan to a syrup and use it as a topping. Wow, I think I need to make some mulled wine right now …

What if you don’t have an ice cream machine? Well, first of all consider buying one. I was sceptic in the beginning, but now I see that this was one of the best culinary investments we decided to make. But without an ice cream machine, you can try to freeze the mixture, stirring frequently, watching it like a hawk to prevent it from freezing through.

Have you tried this recipe already? Let me know down in the comments. And if you are on the “I-don’t-care-if-it’s-winter,-I-still-want-ice-cream” team, show some love and share this article with your loved ones.