Mahlab, Honey, and Olive Oil Ice Cream with Sesame Brittle
Makes about 1 quart.
š½ļø Makes 1
Ingredients
| 2 cups | 480 ml | heavy cream |
| 1 cup | 240 ml | whole milk |
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | sugar (for ice cream) |
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | honey |
| pinch | salt | |
| 1 T | ground mahlab (or more, to taste) | |
| 1/4 cup | 60 ml | olive oil |
| 3 tsp | 15 ml | toasted sesame seeds (for brittle) |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.6 ml | kosher salt (for brittle) |
| 1/2 tsp | 2.5 ml | ground mahlab (for brittle) |
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | sugar (for brittle) |
| 1 T | water (for brittle) | |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | lemon juice (for brittle) |
Instructions
- Heat cream, milk, 1 cup sugar, honey, pinch salt, and 1 T mahlab over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until sugars dissolve. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat before the mixture boils.
- Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Cover and chill for at least two hours, preferably more (up to twenty-four hours).
- While the cream chills, make the brittle. Spread toasted sesame seeds in a tightly packed single layer on a silicone sheet or buttered parchment paper. Sprinkle 1/8 tsp. kosher salt and 1/2 tsp. mahlab over the sesame seeds.
- Heat 1/2 cup sugar, 1 T water, and 1 tsp. lemon juice over medium heat in small pan or skillet. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves. Let sit without stirring until amber in color.
- Working quickly, pour syrup over sesame seeds. Use a heat-safe spatula to spread into a thin layer with evenly distributed sesame seeds.
- When the brittle is cool and hard, break into small piecesāwhatever size you like! Sometimes it's nice when ice cream has tiny pieces all throughout, so there are bits in every bite. Sometimes it's nice when there are a few big lovely chunks. For this particular recipe, I think the big chunks are superior. Set aside.
- Churn mahlab cream mixture according to your ice cream maker manufacturer's instructions. If your brittle pieces are the size of a pea or smaller, add these to the ice cream in the last minutes of churning. Pour the olive oil into the churning mixture just in the last seconds. Churn until the oil is distributed throughout the ice cream but not actually mixed ināits flavor comes out better if you get some spoonfuls of ice cream with a higher, recognizable concentration of oil.
- Pack into a freezer-safe container. If your brittle chunks are large, drop them in the container as you pack. Freeze for at least four hours.