Fresh Mint Ice Cream Recipe | Cook the Book

By
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee started working at Serious Eats as an intern in 2007. Until she left the site in 2014, she held a variety of titles such as editorial assistant, photographer, editor of A Hamburger Today, visual editor, and doodler.
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Updated August 05, 2020

I once took my friend to an ice cream shop that made mint ice cream from real mint, as opposed to the artificial stuff you find it most places. After taking one bite she alleged that it didn't taste like mint. I reassured her that it only tasted funny because even if she knew what real mint tasted like, she just wasn't used to eating it in ice cream form. "It's the real deal! EAT IT!" I commanded with a twinge of crazed mint-love in my eye.

And then I stared at her as she cautiously ate the rest of her cup's contents, probably wondering what I found so great about fresh mint ice cream while considering whether she would ever eat ice cream with me again.

It couldn't only be for me that eating fresh mint ice cream killed the desire to eat the regular stuff that I grew up on ever again. Try David Lebovitz's Fresh Mint Ice Cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop and see if the same thing doesn't happen to you.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
  • 2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups (80 g) lightly packed fresh mint leaves
  • 5 large egg yolks

Directions

  1. Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup (250 ml) of the cream, and salt in a small saucepan. Add the mint leaves and stir until they're immersed in the liquid. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

  2. Strain the mint-infused mixture through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan (the milk will be a lovely shade of emerald). Press on the mint leaves to extract as much of the flavor as possible, then discard the mint leaves. Pour the remaining 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer on top.

  3. Rewarm the mint-infused mixture. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mint liquid into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

  4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

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