Jeni's Savannah Buttermint Ice Cream

It was such lovely weather for Easter!  We actually made it up to 75º - I don't think we've had such nice weather this weekend for years.  Now we have the garden mostly weeded; the herbs and mint are pruned back and very happy.  I could have taken some of the mint prunings and made some fresh garden mint ice cream.  It is getting closer to ice cream weather on a regular basis.  But one thing I learned in the last side by side taste test:  Savannah Buttermint ice cream wins in our family, hands down.  I highly recommend getting a copy of Jeni's ice cream book, because they turn out amazing! 

And in the case of this particular flavor, Savannah Buttermint Ice Cream, truly A-MAZ-ING.  It's like an ice cream form of those little wedding/party mints or the after dinner butter mints.  Super rich, creamy, toothsome without being gummy, sweet without being cloying, and truly buttery.  Both my Dad and hubby loved it! I am duly impressed with the book.  And the back story of how her scoop shops came about is a great read too.  This is one of those cookbooks you can sit down and have fun reading from cover to cover.
  
One interesting thing is that Jeni talks about the option of tapioca or corn starch and syrup.  She uses tapioca starch and tapioca syrup in her scoop shops.  Since we have a corn allergy, I used the tapioca options as well and found that my mix got very thick.  I mean almost pudding thick.  I believe this is because tapioca starch thickens quickly and at a relatively low temperature.  The directions are written for corn starch and syrup since most people will be using that option.  Anyway I thinned it out with a little more cream and it still turned out positively unctuous in the best sense.  Tapioca syrup is not quite as sweet as corn syrup so I imagine it would not alter the flavor as much as corn syrup.  I consider that a bonus as well.  It's one of the reasons these ice creams are so great, the flavors are very pure because they are not custard/egg based mixes.  You may find the cream cheese to be an interesting secret ingredient.  Oh yes, bonus, she includes recipes for mix-ins from buttered nuts, meringues and brittles to lingonberry sauce.

So for a truly rich, butter, minty ice cream experience, try this out.  And then get the book!  (I think I'll make the maple ice cream with salty buttered nuts next...)  Oh, don't be afraid of the turmeric, it's just for color, not flavor.  And I used buttery sweet dough flavor since I had it.  It's still butter flavor.  I'll get the Frontier brand when I run out.

Jeni's Savannah Buttermint Ice Cream
makes about 1 Quart

2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp corn starch (I suggest using only 1 tbsp tapioca starch to avoid over thickening)
1½ oz (3 tbsp) cream cheese, softened
½ tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
1¼ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup (tapioca syrup, or golden syrup if you can't find it)
3 oz white chocolate, chopped
8 drops natural butter flavor (I used buttery sweet dough emulsion)
3-4 drops pure peppermint oil (I recommend 4)

Mix the starch into about 2 tbsp of the milk in a small bowl.  In a medium bowl whisk the cream cheese, salt and turmeric until smooth.  Set aside a large bowl filled with water and ice to cool the cooked mix.

Combine the rest of the milk, cream sugar and tapioca syrup in a 4 Qt saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat.  Boil for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in the starch slurry.  Bring back to a boil and cook and stir until slightly thickened.  Less than a minute.  Remove from heat.

Slowly whisk the hot milk mix into the cream cheese until perfectly smooth.  Pour into a gallon ziploc bag and chill in the ice bath until cold.  About 30 minutes.

Just before ready to freeze, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and cool slightly.  Pour the base mix into the ice cream freezer and turn on the machine.  While the machine is turning, drop in the butter flavor and peppermint oil through the top opening.  Slowly drizzle in the melted chocolate so that it forms flecks in the churning mixture.  Mix and freeze until thick and creamy, then pack into a storage container and seal.  Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Try not to eat the whole thing by yourself!