On the road to doom

I really am on the way to hell. The number of eggs that I've gone through in the last 2 weeks is astounding. I buy whole trays of 30 eggs each and am on my second one now. I'm just worried that all of that is going to all the hearts (literally) in my family.

But I missed using my ice cream maker so much, and might be separated from it for another whole year, that I can't help but get myself emotionally attached to it now. It has served me well, and has definitely served me hard. I already can't bear to leave it again. But until the time comes, what use is there in mourning over it?

Today's experiment was based on an epicurious recipe for a Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream. I used my basic recipe for vanilla ice cream though, because if it ain't spoilt, don't spoil it. It just involved an additional step of folding in some bread crumbs tossed in butter, sugar and cinnamon before being toasted.

This is actually something that even cinnamon haters might not mind having since the cinnamon flavours were really subtle. The crunchy breadcrumb bits not only made the ice cream texturally interesting, the taste of the bread and butter in the ice cream was novel but in a good way. It added a certain richness and comfort to an otherwise ordinary ice cream.

I'd recommend saving some breadcrumbs to sprinkle on top, together with a small (a little goes a long, long way) dash of ground cinnamon. Not just because of selfish aesthetic reasons though, but also because it's just so much fun to do so. I'll admit, I actually feel like a little professional chef when I'm at it. ;)

Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups of a basic vanilla ice cream custard base (see below), infused with cinnamon and chilled overnight

3 slices of bread, put through a food processor until it resembles bread crumbs

2 tbspn butter, melted

1.5 tbspn packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Toss bread crumbs with butter, sugar and cinnamon.

Toast until brown and crisp then reserve a handful for the finishing touches.

Churn vanilla custard base in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

When it is done, fold in bread crumbs and freeze at least 2 hours before serving.

Just before serving, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a pinch of ground cinnamon.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup milk

1 vanilla bean

4 egg yolks

100g sugar

Method

Bring whipping cream and milk to a simmer, infusing milk (and cinnamon, for the above recipe).

Whisk egg yolks and sugar then pour hot cream mixture in a thin stream while whisking.

Return to pot and put in a double boiler (or over another slightly bigger pot of hot water), stirring well constantly until it thickens.

When the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, remove from heat and leave to cool.