Lavender Honey Ice Cream
Lavender Honey Ice Cream is my new favorite ice cream, and I think it will be your’s too! Lavender Honey gives this frozen custard a full-bodied, smooth texture and hauntingly lovely flavor.
As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely love making ice cream at home. There is something magical about turning milk, sugar and eggs into a luscious frozen treat.
I love that I can be totally creative with the flavors, and I can make combinations that I’ll never find in the frozen food aisle.
Why honey makes incredible ice cream:
- This recipe starts with the same basic recipe I use for most of my ice creams. I replaced some of the sugar with the Lavender Honey and I steeped culinary lavender blossoms in the milk to highlight the honey’s flavor.
- I’m very happy with the flavor of this ice cream, but I really can not believe how wonderful the texture is.
- Sometimes homemade ice cream can become grainy or very hard in the freezer. This ice cream is scoopable right from the freezer and has a rich, full-bodied texture with absolutely no graininess.
- I did lots of research and couldn’t get a definitive answer as to why honey makes ice cream so smooth. Cooks Illustrated uses corn syrup in their ice cream to improve the texture. I’m not sure if it’s the exact same thing happening here, but I’m guessing it is.
Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make the best Lavender Honey Ice Cream:
Tips for making the best Honey Lavender Ice Cream:
- Make sure to use culinary lavender blossoms for the best lavender flavor.
- Adjust the amount of lavender and steeping time to get the lavender flavor to your taste.
- Be careful, lavender can go from a lovely light flavor to soapy if left steeping too long. It took about 30 minutes for mine to have a flavor I liked.
- You can use plain honey in place of the lavender honey.
More lavender recipes:
- Lavender Lemon Angel Food Cake
- Lavender Macarons
- Blackberry Lavender Preserves
- Crisp Lavender Cookies
- Apricot Lavender Shortbread
Now that you’ve made this recipe what should you do with all the extra egg whites? Check out this collection of recipes that use extra whites for some great ideas.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, why not give it a 5-star review?
Lavender Honey Ice Cream
Lavender Honey gives this frozen custard a full-bodied, smooth texture and hauntingly lovely flavor.
servings
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Ingredients
- 8 oz whole milk (1 cup)
- 16 oz heavy cream (2 cups)
- 4 oz granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons dried lavender blossoms
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 oz lavender honey (1/4 cup, see note)
Instructions
- Combine the milk, cream, sugar, lavender and salt in a saucepan. Heat on high to scalding hot, careful it doesn’t boil over. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the mix to steep for about 20 minutes. Check the flavor. If you want it stronger allow it to steep a little longer Steep until the flavor is to your liking (see note 2).
- Reheat the milk over medium high heat until scalding hot. While the milk mixture is heating, whisk together the yolks and lavender honey. Whisk the scalding hot milk into the yolks. Return the mixture to the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the custard, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon or spatula.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Run the custard in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions
- Pack into a container. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream and cover the container with a lid. Freeze at least 8 hours or overnight.
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Notes
- You can use plain honey in place of the lavender honey.
- When you eat the frozen ice cream the flavor will be a little muted, so you can make the flavor just a bit stronger than perfect. Be careful though, lavender can go from a lovely light flavor to soapy if left too long. It took about 30 minutes for mine to have a flavor I liked.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
This recipe looks amazing! Is it still possible to make this ice cream without an ice-cream machine? Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
No churn ice creams require a different recipe. If you freeze this without using an ice cream machine you’ll get large icy crystals instead of a smooth texture. So, sorry, no I don’t think it would work well.
Eileen, we just have to tell you that this lavender honey ice cream recipe is a huge success with our family! It was our first time to try something a bit different, and what a tremendous surprise this was. It is unusual, decadent, and just unlike any other flavor we put in our mouths! Its like it has a PARTY in your mouth, as it dances around with its flavors! Bravo to this recipe!
Thanks Lisa. I absolutely love using honey in ice cream not only for the flavor but for the luscious texture it gives the ice cream. So glad you enjoyed it. Happy New Year!
Yes! I love everything about this ice cream. Gorgeous, and I can almost taste i just from looking at your photos. P~
Thanks!