Saturday, March 28, 2009

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Tyler (who is in Nicaragua because he is a jerk) recommended (demanded) that I make sweet potato ice cream (because he is a jerk). So I made this batch of ice cream for Tyler, and I made it even more delicious than I normally would have so he misses out even more while being in another country.

Sweet Potato Ice Cream
1 1/2 C whole milk
2 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C brown sugar
dash of salt
2 egg yolks
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmet
1 C sweet potato (about 2 medium sized sweets)
t tsp vanilla extract

I started this off like all ice creams, but I decided to use brown sugar instead of white since it goes with sweet potato so well. I put the milk and sugar on low heat until it reached a simmer, tempered in the egg yolks and stirred for about 10 minutes until a custard formed.

While the custard was cooling I baked the potatoes (I will embarrassingly admit that I cooked the potatoes in the microwave since I didn't have over an hour to wait...but it will work all the same for this recipe, even though I rarely trust microwaves). Once fully cooked, peel off the skins (and eat them because they are delicious), and blend the potato flesh in a food processor (or blender, or with a hand masher. Whatever you have on hand). Once fully mashed, mix in slowly with the custard, and stir in the cream and vanilla. Chill for a few hours and churn in an ice cream maker.

This recipe turned out very well! I am glad I used to brown sugar since it gives it a bit of a different taste for ice cream. You will definitely need to mash up/process the sweet potato since it is so fibrous. I had some extra chunks of potato in my ice cream which I am glad about, so don't worry too much if its not mashed completely. This would be great with vegan marshmallows thrown in or pecans, but I had neither on hand. This is a delicious ice cream... and maybe somewhat healthier than normal ice cream since it has super-good-for-you sweet potato in...but I kind of doubt its that healthy once you account for all the cream and sugar :)

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