Fresh Fig and Honey Ice Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. How many times did you say or hear that when you were a kid? I bet more than you think. My very first job was working at a local ice cream parlor in the Bay Area, called Loard’s Ice Cream. It was one of those old fashioned places that made their own ice cream from pure cream and had great flavors ranging from banana, coffee to champagne sherbet. Of course, all of the standard flavors existed plus seasonal favorites including eggnog and pumpkin.

I worked there for about a year and half and then it was time to move onto the next job. Too much temptation to taste everything there; plus my pants were not as loose as they use to be. It was a terrific first job which taught me organization, customer service and problem solving skills. To this day, I could make any of the various sundaes on the menu – funny how you just don’t forget certain things.

Over the long holiday weekend, my creative juices were flowing. I had the urge on Saturday morning to make homemade ice cream. I had fresh figs – quite frankly I am obsessed with figs this year. I thought the figs would be good in an ice cream, but what else to put with these little treasures. Ah ha - a great compliment would be honey. Now I had my flavor – fresh fig and honey ice cream. Rather than blending the bits of figs in the ice cream while it was being processed, I wanted a more organic texture and experience. After the cream was almost frozen, I blended by hand the bits of fig to give texture and a beautiful appearance when formed into that lovely round sphere of goodness.

On Sunday evening we were invited to our next door neighbors for a rib eye steak dinner with all of the wonderful sides – mashed potatoes, sautéed portabella mushrooms and sautéed zucchini with garlic. It was a great weekend of dining with our great neighbors - one family on Sunday and another on Monday.  We felt very special to have such thoughtful people invite us over.  I always enjoy when dining out or at friends, the experience of being pampered by not actually cooking and someone spoiling me. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE cooking for people, but every once in a while, it such a treat to be catered to. I ended up running home to grab the Fig Ice Cream to share with everyone. My scooping skills are still current and everyone enjoyed a bit of homemade goodness.

Fresh Fig and Honey Ice Cream

½ C. Honey
1 ½ C. Heavy Cream
1 ½ C. Half n Half
¼ C. Sugar
1 t. Vanilla
¼ t. Salt
5 Large egg yolks
6 Large fresh figs, stemmed and chopped into tiny pieces

In a medium sauce pan, add the cream, half n half, honey and salt. Cook over medium heat until it is warm. In a separate medium bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until creamy. Take about a fourth of a cup of the warm mixture and add to the egg yolk mixture and whisk quickly to temper the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the cream mixture and cook on medium heat while stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats a wooden spoon.

Chill the mixture over an ice bath and let chill in the refrigerator until completely cool. Freeze the mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once it is chilled, the stir in the chopped fig pieces. Transfer to a plastic storage container and freeze until ready to serve.