Ginger ice cream

This ginger ice cream has a delicious balance of ginger flavor and rice creaminess. It's easy to make with just a few ingredients, and while you might have to wait a little while to enjoy, it's so worth it. As an added bonus, it's the type of flavor that's perfect year round.

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For whatever reason, I always held off getting an ice cream maker for years. I would make the odd no churn ice cream like my roasted strawberry ice cream, cherry ice cream and no churn pumpkin ice cream. All of which we love, I should add. But as the various frozen treats became more requested, I decided it might be time. 

Initially, my final kick was to get the right texture for sorbets, but the whole family is also enjoying the benefits with a few churned ice creams too. This one was an instant favorite with everyone. 

How to add ginger flavors to ice cream

You could call this double ginger as it uses both fresh ginger in the base and candied ginger chunks mixed in at the end. The ginger flavor in the creamy base is not super strong, but you know it's there and it's incredibly tasty.

While I have used candied ginger, which is the slightly drier pieces of ginger coated in sugar, you can also use stem ginger in syrup. It's just that bit harder to find in the US, unlike in the UK. For both, be sure to chop the ginger into small pieces so you get those little bursts of flavor.

The ginger in the base starts by making what's essentially a slightly stronger (as in more ginger) version of the ginger syrup that I have shared before and use in cocktails and mocktails. You simply simmer together water, sugar and pieces of fresh ginger. Leave it to cool so that the liquid infuses more. 

Here, you then add this infused syrup into the cream base for the ice cream. I leave the ginger pieces in as you warm the cream so it can add extra flavor, then strain them out later. This way you get as much flavor from the ginger as possible.

It's worth mentioning that part of the reason for making the syrup first is that the ginger may cause issues if added just to the cream base. The ginger can react with the dairy and cause it to curdle.  Cooking the ginger in water first helps to reduce the chance of this happening.

About the ice cream base

The ice cream base here is what you might describe as a custard base as it's a mixture of heavy cream (double cream), milk, egg yolks and sugar. This is different from no churn ice creams. They use a mixture of whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk to get to a similar end texture without churning. 

Different styles of ice cream use different proportions of milk and cream, and also different numbers of egg yolks. In this ice cream recipe, I have gone on the lower end yolks-wise, adding three for three cups of dairy.

To me, it's enough to help give a relatively rich texture, but not so many so that they mask the ginger flavor. You generally use less yolks with fruit ice creams for that reason and I felt it was worth doing the same here, since ginger is a more delicate flavor.

Plus, it's less leftover whites to use up. Though if you are looking for an idea, my strawberry souffle recipe conveniently uses three egg whites (and is delicious!).

I have also gone for slightly less cream than some styles - again, this makes it slightly less rich which to me fits better given the flavor, but I'm sure some of that is personal preference, too. 

Making ginger ice cream

Once you have your ginger syrup, the method to make this is much like other ice cream making:

• Warm the cream base. You warm the milk and cream so it just about scalds, so starting to steam and form bubbles around the edges but not boiling.
• Prepare the yolks. Separately, whisk together the yolks and the additional sugar so they become glossy. 
• Temper the yolks. This basically means gradually increasing the temperature of the yolks so they warm gradually rather than cook. By whisking in a little of the hot cream at a time, you bring the temperature of the yolks up slowly. So no yucky bits of cooked yolk in there!
• Warm the custard base to thicken. After a few additions, add the yolk mixture back in with the cream mixture and place back over the heat, but on a low heat. Warm it, stirring pretty constantly, for a few minutes unitl it thickens a little. Since there are less yolks in this than some styles, it won't go that thick, but you should notice a bit of a difference. Make sure that it does not boil. 
• Strain the mixture to remove solids.
• Cool completely. You need the mixture to be very cold to make sure it churns properly. Let it cool briefly at room temperature first before then refrigerating. You may want to leave it in the fridge overnight.
• Churning time! 

Once the mixture has churned so that it reaches soft serve consistency, add the chopped candied ginger. Churn briefly a little more to mix before then transferring to a container to freeze completely.

I know this may all seem like it takes a little while, and indeed you do have some waiting here and there. But you don't have all that much hands on work to do and it's easy, too. And as I say, it's all most definitely worth it!

Uses for ginger ice cream

We love this just as it is (and it's great with chai ice cream), but it's the kind of flavor that I think goes well with other desserts as well. Ginger pairs well with lots of festive flavors, like cinnamon and other spices, so I can see this being great with apple pie, Christmas pudding and more. I can see it being great with some warm cookies, too.

This ginger ice cream has such a wonderful flavor - a delicious balance of warm spice and rich creamy ice cream. It's easy to make, even if it requires a little patience, and the result is well and truly worth the wait. So be sure to enjoy some soon.

Try these other tasty frozen treats:

• Raspberry sorbet (with a great bright color and flavor)
• Nectarine ice cream (no churn)
• Persimmon ginger sorbet (also with tasty bits of ginger in it, though you can skip those if you prefer)
• Mexican strawberry popsicles (paletas de fresa con crema, fruit and creamy and so easy too)
• Plus get more dessert recipes in the archives.

I use this Cuisinart ice cream maker which works well (affiliate link).

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

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