Homemade Peppermint (Mint Chip or Candy Cane) Ice Cream - With No Machine

As requested here is my Candy Cane Ice Cream recipe. Be sure to also check out my Rocky Road Chocolate Ice Cream recipe. 

The base for this recipe is vanilla recipe from this site. So you can get creative with it and add whatever flavor you want. I have made both Mint Chip Ice Cream and Candy Cane Ice Cream

Peppermint Ice Cream Recipe

·       1 cup Whole Milk

·       A pinch of salt

·       3/4 cup Sugar or Honey (the honey adds a bit for flavor and even creamier texture)

·       2 ½ cups heavy cream

·       5 large egg yolks

·       10 drop Peppermint Essential Oil

·       2 PEPPERMINT Tea bags or Fresh Peppermint leaves (optional)

·       For MINT CHIP add either chocolate chips or melted chocolate

·       For CANDY CANE add 10-12 crushed candy canes

·       For richer custard, you can add up to 3 more egg yolks. For less-rich custard, substitute half-and-half for the heavy cream, realizing that the final texture won’t be as rich or as smooth as if using cream.

Step 1: Heat the milk, salt, and sugar (or honey) in a saucepan.

Step 2: (OPTIONAL) Add the tea bags or peppermint leaves to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

Step 3: Pour cream into a freezer safe bowl and set a strainer over the top.

Step 4: In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Re warm the milk and remove tea bags or leafs then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

Step 5: Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula or temperature reads 170 F on a candy or instant read thermometer.

Step 6: Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir and add the peppermint oil, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

Step 7: Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. From here you have two options to use an ice cream machine or to not. I do not have a machine yet, so the first option you have is without the machine.

Step 8 (option 1): Remove mixture from the refrigerator and stir with a rubber spatula. Transfer the mixture to a deep freezer-safe bowl or container and place in the freezer for 45 minutes. As it starts to freezer near the edges, remove from the freezer and stir vigorously with a fork or whisk, being sure to break up any frozen sections. Return it to the freezer. Continue to check every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it’s freezing. When it starts to thicken either add candy canes or chocolate (the candy canes will turn the ice cream red). It is estimated that it will take 2-3 hours for the ice cream to sufficiently frozen and ready.

Crush the candy canes with a little help.

When it starts to thicken add the candy canes.

Step 8 (option 2): Then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. At some point add the candy canes or chocolate (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)