Did you buy candy canes for Christmas and not eat them too? I bought candy canes for garnish for the last recipe I posted. The box of candy canes moved around my house for a month before I acknowledged that I wasn’t going to eat candy canes, I was just going to keep moving them if I didn’t find another use for them. This recipe is an ice cream base infused with candy canes, giving a minty finish and smooth home made ice cream texture. No clumsy, sticky chunks of candy cane here. I would even top a scoop with espresso, if I had an espresso machine. Guess I can’t have ALL the machines. 

Peppermint Ice Cream. Ice cream machine needed. This amount fits comfortably in one batch in a Cuinsinart ice cream machine.

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2/3 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 candy canes
• 4 egg yolks

Start this process a day or two before you need the ice cream. Freeze the freezer container of the ice cream maker the day before. Also, make the base mixture and refrigerate the day before. In a sauce pot combine heavy cream through candy canes. Crack eggs and separate yolks into a medium bowl. Whisk the yolks and set the bowl aside. Heat milk mixture over medium heat, whisking until candy canes and sugar have dissolved. Pour a small amount of milk mixture into the egg yolks to begin tempering the yolks. Slowly add more milk mixture, whisking, until you’ve added 1/3 of the milk to the yolks. Once whisked together, pour yolk and milk mixture back into the pan of remaining milk. Whisk until temperature reaches 170 degrees or mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain if necessary and pour ice cream base into a bowl or container, and refrigerate covered, over night. Following ice cream maker instructions, pour base mixture into ice cream maker. Serve right when mixing is done for a soft, fluffy consistency, or put ice cream in the freezer to enjoy at your leisure.