Rose’s Honey Lavender Ice Cream by Jennifer Beckstrand

Note from Rose: This is a yummy, different ice cream that Aunt Bitsy loves but Farrah Fawcett turns up her nose at, even when it’s melted. If you like a stronger lavender taste, you can use up to ¼ cup of dried lavender. I like just a hint.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups milk (2% or whole is fine)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup honey
½ Tbsp. dried lavender
4 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Bring the milk, cream, honey, and lavender to a gentle boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. I added the lavender when I removed it from the heat instead of bowling it with the other ingredients, but either way is fine.

Remove from the heat and let steep for ten to fifteen minutes. Strain out the lavender petals and let cool a bit.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm milk mixture, whisking as you pour. This helps warm the eggs slowly so they don’t cook when you add them to the hot liquid.

Pour the warmed eggs back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture. This mixture is now called custard because of the eggs. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (five to ten minutes).

Strain again into a bowl to make sure you got all the lavender pieces. Set the bowl of custard over a large bowl of ice water. Stir the custard until cool, then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (three hours or overnight).

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and invite Dan Kanagy over to do the crank turning. This ice cream is creamy and smooth and pleasantly soft. It doesn’t freeze very hard because it uses honey instead of sugar.

The vanilla adds a lovely color, and the ice cream is a very pretty beige. The lavender doesn’t add any color. I really like watching the little lavender pieces floating on top of the milk mixture, and the smell, while it cooks, is delightful.

 

Sweet as Honey is a warm, wonderful book filled with delightful characters, humor and tenderness. Jennifer Beckstrand writes lovely stories, sure to touch your heart.” –RaeAnne Thayne, New York Times bestselling authorSmart, kind, and good-hearted, the three Christner girls are affectionately known as The Honeybee Sisters in the beloved Wisconsin Amish community where, under the care of their aunt, they’ve grown into skilled beekeepers–and lovely, sought-after young women. . .

Though she has blossomed into a beauty, Lily Christner doesn’t really believe it. Deep down, she still feels like a lonely, gawky teenager. Maybe that’s why she’s all but promised herself to Paul Glick, the one boy who never teased her in her awkward girlhood–unlike Dan Kanagy, whose creative name-calling left her in tears many a time. Now he’s back in town after two years away–and being surprisingly sweet, suspiciously attentive–and making Lily unsettlingly yet deliciously nervous. It seems Dan wants Lily’s forgiveness–and her heart. But can he convince her–not to mention her protective schwesters and aendi–that despite the past, her future lies with him?…

 Praise for Jennifer Beckstrand and her Matchmakers of Blueberry Hill series

“Full of kind, sincere characters struggling with the best ways to stay true to themselves and their beliefs.” —Publishers Weekly

“Readers will treasure this series and put the first outing on their keeper shelf.” —RT Book Reviews

“A delightful voice in Amish romance. Sweet and funny.” –Emma Miller