I’m pulling this one out of the archives while I work up the blog drafts of all that I’ve been cooking in the past couple of months. I made this ice cream for my friend’s mom. She’s from Venezuela and came to DC this summer, at which time she made the best arepas I’ve ever had. To thank her, I made her favorite ice cream–rum raisin. The thing is, she also loves vanilla ice cream and doesn’t like too strong of a rum flavor. So I made rum-scented raisin ice cream. To be honest, I really liked this milder version better. And I received lip smacking nods from the arepa-queen as well! 😀 If you like more of a kick, feel free to soak your raisins in more rum and/or to use a bit of rum extract. Be careful adding too much actual rum though–it keeps your ice cream from freezing if you add too much.

Ok… that’s all for now! Thank you to all of the veterans who have served; and for those of you who have today off, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, oh, and if you want to continue internet browsing, check this interview on Gourmet Live out–Como Water was the blog of the week last week! 😀

Rum-Scented Raisin Ice Cream 

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup (loosely packed) raisins

1/2 cup rum

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 cup heavy cream (divided)

1/2 cup whole milk

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

*Soak raisins in the rum for at least 2 hours to overnight.

*Add the half and half, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream, and the milk to a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium low just until the cream mixture starts to bubble around the edges. (Be sure to watch the mixture, it can quickly boil over and you’ll have a big mess!).

*While cream mixture is heating up, beat egg yolks and sugar together in a large heat safe bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed for approximately two minutes, or until the mixture is fluffy and pale yellow. Set aside.

*Fill a large pot halfway full of water. Heat over medium low.

*Once cream mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat off and remove the pot from the stove. SLOWLY (i.e., one ladle full at a time) add the cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture, mixing the cream mixture completely before adding the next ladle full. Once all of the cream mixture has been added, place the egg yolk-cream mixture over the large pot of water to create a double boiler. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the mixture coats the back of the wooden spoon. Remove the bowl from the double bath. Pour the egg yolk-cream mixture through a sieve.  Stir in the salt and vanilla extract and cool completely (I usually chill the mixture overnight).

*When ready to make the ice cream, stir in the remaining heavy cream. Strain the raisins from the rum and stir in the rum. Add the mixture to an ice cream maker and operate according to manufacturers directions. After approximately 20 minutes, add the strained raisins to the ice cream and let the maker run for 2-5 additional minutes. Add to a freezer-proof container. Freeze and enjoy!