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.
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.
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.
Testing, Testing
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.
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.
Method & Ingredients
This recipe makes about 1 quart of ice cream, or 6-8 servings. All you need are a few simple ingredients:
- heavy cream
- half & half (aka light cream, or whole milk)
- sugar
- egg yolks
- fresh ginger root
Serve this delicious ginger ice cream 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 strawberry rhubarb crumble, like I did here.
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this fresh ginger ice cream, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
How to Make Fresh Ginger Ice Cream
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 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.
Steeno says
stumbled on your blog and so glad I did! Lovely blog, I'm going to try this recipe tonight!
Alanna says
Aw! Thank you for the super sweet note. Let me know how the ice cream comes out. :)
Caliana says
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.
Nicole says
Love the recipe, awesome!
What's the ideal temperature of storing this ice cream? My freezer made it really really hard. Thank you!!
Alanna says
That's totally normal for homemade ice cream! Just let it sit at room temp for 5-10 minutes before scooping. :)
Sheri Lynn says
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.
Elliott says
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.
Alanna says
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. :)
Pete says
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 🙏
Alanna says
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!