Saffron Ice Cream

In 1993, Steve Pope on rec.food.cooking mentioned this and it sounded interesting.  We modified the basic French Vanilla ice cream recipe that came with our cheap ice cream maker, leaving out the vanilla so the saffron comes through. The amounts here just fit our maker. It’s made by Deni and cost about $40, and the same model Cuisinart sells for about twice that: it’s a metal bowl you chill in the freezer, and put it on a motor base that spins it under a lid that has a dasher paddle.

We had saffron from Whole Foods -- overpriced, poorly packaged, but reasonably tasty.  Next time we used the Spanish saffron we got from Penzey's. We haven’t yet tried very well priced stuff from saffron.com.

I like to serve this drizzled with a thin thread of ancient honey we have had lurking in our pantry -- it’s dark and intensely flavored and for some reason really complements the saffron. Of course you have to age the honey for a decade or two first :-)

1/8 tsp Saffron threads
1 Tbs Brandy

3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
2 Cup Cream (heavy whipping cream, 36% fat)

1 Cup Sugar
1 pinch Salt

Crush and infuse Saffron threads in Brandy for 30 minutes or longer.

Beat Eggs, Milk and Cream together in large saucepan,
over double boiler if you're worried about curdling.
Add Sugar and Salt and cook over low heat (double boiler)
at 170-175F stirring constantly
until thickened and a custard is formed, about 10 minutes.
Mixture should coat the back of a spoon.
Cool, then add Cream and Saffron Brandy mixture.
NOTE: the mixture must be cool before adding any alcohol like
Vanilla extract or Saffron Brandy, else it will explode.

This should make 4 1/2 C mixture, the max our ice cream maker can handle.

Mix well and refrigerate overnight.
Churn in ice cream maker per its instructions,
then freeze overnight.