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    Home / Desserts / Ice Cream & Frozen Treats

    How to Make Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

    Published May 25, 2012

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Creamy, homemade ice cream gets a zip from loads of freshly grated ginger. This recipe is easy to make at home with just 5 ingredients and 30 minutes of active time. With sweet floral notes and a kicky afterglow, it's perfect served with any fruit dessert (shown here with my gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp!)

    This recipe takes just 30 minutes of active time, plus a few hours of chilling time.

    scoop of ginger ice cream in a bowl

    The word "complement" means "to complete or bring to perfection," and that is precisely how I feel about melty ice cream regarding gooey-warm fruit desserts. You can't go wrong with homemade vanilla ice cream, but ginger is another flavor that pairs with every fruit I can think of – apples, pears and quince; berries, figs, melons, peaches, apricots and plums; tropical fruits; all citrus; and even chocolate (which is made from the seed of a fruit). My favorite of all is not really a fruit, but a vegetable: rhubarb.

    fresh ginger

    Ginger conveys some of the lovely floral notes that vanilla does, but hints at savoriness with its spicy heat. The contrast of the cool ice cream flavored with warming ginger is eye-opening.

    fresh ginger on a board

    For my first try, I followed David Lebovitz' instructions and steeped blanched slices of ginger in hot cream for an hour. (As I learned the hard way, failing to blanch the ginger in boiling water before heating it with the dairy results in cheese-like curds forming from the acids in the ginger.) The finished ice cream had a soft, floral flavor, which was delicious, but I missed the spicy heat of fresh ginger. At Jay's suggestion, I used a microplane to grate a bit of fresh ginger over the finished ice cream, which gave it the punch I wanted.

    scoop of ginger

    For trial 2, I skipped the blanching and steeping processes altogether and stirred up a batch of plain ice cream base. To the chilled base I added fresh ginger, grated to a juicy pulp on a microplane. This method produced an ice cream with the kick I was after, and took less time to make, too. The churned ice cream remains surprisingly smooth; though I do enjoy an occasional fleck of ginger warming the back of my throat.

    ice cream being churned

    Serve this on its own, with some crispy cookies (I'm eyeing the black sesame tuiles from David L's Ready For Dessert), or bring it to perfection with a warm crumble, pandowdy, turnover, rustic tart, or chocolate cake.

    tub of ginger ice cream

    How to enjoy your fresh ginger ice cream:

    • Peach Crisp with Brown Butter and Bourbon
    • Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
    • Gluten-Free Rhubarb Crisp
    • GF Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
    • Apple Quince Pie (gluten-free option)
    • Gluten-Free Blueberry Cobbler
    • Ginger Plum Crumble
    • Gluten-Free Cherry Pie

    *Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram,  Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this fresh ginger ice cream recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet  and  #bojongourmet.*

    5 from 2 votes

    How to Make Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Creamy, homemade ice cream gets a zip from loads of freshly grated ginger. This recipe takes just 30 minutes of active time, plus a few hours of chilling and freezing time. This makes a pleasantly spiced ice cream, with sweet floral notes and a kicky afterglow.
    You can use 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk in place of the dairy listed if you prefer. Feel free to fold in some minced candied ginger post-churning for double-ginger ice cream. I use a microplane grater to get my ginger to a pulpy consistency.
    Alanna Taylor-Tobin
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Total: 30 minutes
    Servings: 6 to 8 servings (makes about 1 quart).

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 ½ cups half and half (divided use)
    • 4 large egg yolks
    • ½ cup sugar
    • pinch salt
    • 2 tablespoons peeled, very finely grated fresh ginger (see headnote)

    Instructions

    Cook the custard:

    • Place the heavy cream and 1/2 cup of the half and half in a heat-proof 1-quart capacity container or bowl and place a fine mesh strainer over the container. Set aside. Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl anchored on a damp towel and set aside.
    • In a medium saucepan, warm theremaining cup of half and half, sugar and salt over a medium flame, swirling the pot occasionally until the mixture is steaming and small bubbles form on the bottom of the pan, a few minutes.
    • Dribble the hot half and half mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pot, place over a low flame, and cook, stirring constantly with a heat-proof silicone spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan, until the mixture begins to "stick" (form a film othe bottom of the pan, and/or measures 170ºF on an instant-read thermometer, justa few minutes.
    • Immediately remove the pot from the heat and pour the hot custard through the strainer and into the cold cream mixture. Stir in the grated ginger and its juice, and chill for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days. (If you're in a hurry, you can place the mixture in an ice water bath and stir until it is very cold.)

    Churn the ice cream:

    • Place the ice cream base in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to get it really cold, shaking or stirring it every 10 minutes (this will make for a smoother ice cream). Spin the ice cream in an ice cream maker until it is the consistency of a thick milkshake. Transfer the ice cream to a storage container (preferably one that has been chilled in the freezeand freeze for at least 2 hours for a scoopable consistency.
    • The ice cream is best within a few weeks of being made, but will keep for several months. To prevent ice crystals from forming, press a piece of parchment right on the surface of the ice cream, and store in a covered container.

    Notes

    Nutritional values are based on one of six servings.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 321kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 5gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 207mgSodium: 51mgPotassium: 131mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 970IUVitamin C: 0.7mgCalcium: 105mgIron: 0.4mg
    Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

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    the cover of the award-winning cookbook, Alternative Baker

    Hungry for more?

    Alternative Baker celebrates the unique tastes and textures of 14 gluten-free flours, from buckwheat flour to almond flour to sorghum and coconut! This cookbook will fill your kitchen with sweet treats that burst with flavor every month of the year.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Steeno says

      January 14, 2014 at 11:47 pm

      stumbled on your blog and so glad I did! Lovely blog, I'm going to try this recipe tonight!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        January 14, 2014 at 11:55 pm

        Aw! Thank you for the super sweet note. Let me know how the ice cream comes out. :)

        Reply
    2. Caliana says

      November 12, 2016 at 9:14 pm

      Brilliant! Made a lovely, creamy batch to serve with my rather nice rhubarb raspberry tarts - beyond yum! My gang topped their pecan tassies with it as well - now the family favorite. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
    3. Nicole says

      December 11, 2016 at 12:55 pm

      Love the recipe, awesome!
      What's the ideal temperature of storing this ice cream? My freezer made it really really hard. Thank you!!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        December 11, 2016 at 5:14 pm

        That's totally normal for homemade ice cream! Just let it sit at room temp for 5-10 minutes before scooping. :)

        Reply
    4. Sheri Lynn says

      December 22, 2016 at 10:15 am

      Could this be translated into a sous vide version? I admit I'm new at ice cream making. Anyway I'm giving it a shot, going to make bright, tangy, thin lemon cookies and make ice cream sandwiches with this ginger ice cream, as a lighter take on the traditional Christmas gingerbread with lemon sauce.

      Reply
    5. Elliott says

      January 17, 2018 at 8:06 pm

      This is amazing. I've been looking for a recipe like this ever since I visited a restaurant in Tucson, AZ that serves an ice cream very much like this. Well actually, I first tried looking for local places with similar ice creams (I didn't find any). This recipe is exactly what I was looking for, and I'm frankly amazed that I'm able to make ice cream this good on my own. The only thing I'd tweak about this recipe is to substitute some of the sugar for honey.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        January 18, 2018 at 11:15 pm

        I'm so glad you like it! I bet some honey in place of the sugar would be delicious! Let me know if you try it. :)

        Reply
    6. Pete says

      May 26, 2020 at 8:16 am

      Hi. Just starting with ice cream and yours looks deliciuos.
      Just a doubt: the half and half is 50% milk + 50% heavy cream?
      Thank you 🙏

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        May 26, 2020 at 7:50 pm

        Sorry for the confusion! In the US, half and half is like a light cream. But you can go with 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk in place of the dairy listed if you prefer. Let me know how it goes!

        Reply

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