A is for Autumn and Apple and Almost

The other weekend I went apple picking with my husband, my sister, my mother and our two dogs (a golden lab and a pug). If it sounds picturesque, it was. It was one of those perfect fall days - cool enough for a sweater, but not so cold that it is undesirable to be outdoors. The sun was shinning, the leaves were golden and the apples were ripe. I love apple picking in large part because I think apples picked from a tree taste infinitely better than the apples bought in a supermarket. Apples picked from a tree are crisper, sweeter and juicier.

Of course, if you live anywhere close to New York City, like I do, apples picked from a tree are also infinitely more expensive than apples bought in a store. A genius marketing ploy and a nice little tax on the disposable income of yuppies, who want to feel like they are getting in touch with their "rustic" side. C'est la vie (you may enjoy this stroll down memory lane, if you are like me and this expression reminds you of the 90s song by the Irish girl group B*Witched.)

In any event, my husband and I arrived home with half a bushel of apples. We made apple sauce, ate apples to our hearts content and still I want more freshly picked apples. I, of course, also decided to try to make apple ice cream. I thought it would be a good fall flavor and a nice break from pumpkin spiced lattes, which I made last fall.

Apple Ice Cream

 

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

I granny smith apple sliced, peeled and cored

Dash of lemon juice

1 cup sugar

5 egg yolks

 

Preparation:

Combine the first four ingredients in a pot and bring them to a slight boil over medium heat.

Cool and allow the apple to steep in the cream mixture for two hours.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.

Pour the cream mixture through a strainer and combine with the egg mixture.

Whisk the two mixtures together for two minutes.

Transfer the mixture back to a pot and cook on medium heat for four minutes, stirring constantly.

Strain the mixture once again and place in a clean bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and allow the mixture to chill for a minimum of two hours and up to one day. Churn in your ice cream maker.

 

Texture: The texture was pretty solid. I have used egg yolks as a stabilizer before (click the links if you are interested in learning more about food stabilizers and the role of egg yolks as a natural ice cream stabilizer), and have been happy with the results. For my regular readers, you may realize that this is the same base I used to make the honey and thyme ice cream recommended by Bon Appetit Magazine, I just changed the ingredients and quantity of sugar.

 

Flavor: This gets an almost. The flavor is not bad, but it does not taste like apple. I was hoping that by using a granny smith apple, I would create a somewhat tart ice cream. Perhaps I used too much sugar or not enough apples, but the apple flavor is negligible. I wonder if the flavor would benefit from the use of  apple sauce, though I fear what this would do to the texture of the ice cream. If anyone tries this recipe with apple sauce, share how it turned out by leaving a comment in the comment box.

 

Overall: The texture of this ice cream is fine and so is the taste, but it is not an apple ice cream.

 

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.