Honey Ice Cream

We all know that honey bees are endangered, but if you are like me you may be at a loss for how to address this serious problem. My friend, Frances, is doing her part by keeping bees in her backyard. I’m not brave enough to try that yet, but I may work up to it. For now I will continue to plant flowers in my garden that attract these indispensable pollinators and honey makers. Local honey is wonderful in many ways. Its flavor is as unique as the flowers surrounding the hive, and it has nutrients not found in other sweeteners. Shockingly, some honey purchased at the grocery store doesn’t contain any honey at all! Read the label to make sure you are buying pure honey.

Frances and her husband, Chris, have two gardens where they grow vegetables, fruit trees, and flowers that tower over you–an explosion of color and fragrance. Bee heaven! I’m not sure if happy bees make the best honey, but I like to think so. Frances’ honey tastes of sweet peas, floral with a touch of spice. She calls it “Berkeley Honey” to include the nectar drawn from all of her flowers.

Because of the loving effort and hard work that went into producing this “Berkeley Honey,” I wanted to use it in a way that would best show it off. It turns out that when honey is mixed with cream and churned into ice cream, the honey flavor becomes intensified, slightly exotic and, dare I say it, sultry!

I won’t go so far as to say local honey ice cream is “nutritious”, but it sure nourishes the taste buds.

Temper the egg yolks by whisking in a portion of the hot cream mixture. This keeps the yolks from curdling when combining with the hot ingredients.

Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium-low heat until it coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain the mixture into a clean bowl.

Set the bowl over an ice bath to cool. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in refrigerator for at least one hour, or preferably over night.