While it’s not quite Christmastime yet, it is just about the most wonderful time of the year over at our house. It is ALMOST time for us to start our Christmas Ice Cream Extravaganza. Every year in November we send out a text to some friends and family with a link to a website. On that website, we have a list of ice cream flavors and the number of flavors they can choose. Then, we make some ice cream. And then we make some more. And then we make some more. And then we make some more. Pretty much, the machine doesn’t stop running for an entire week. Last year we made about 70 pints of ice cream in about 5 days. Then, once December hits, we are ready to deliver. Last year was CRAZY but so fun! I have high hopes that this year will be even better!
We try to make all of the flavors beforehand just to test them out and make sure they are worth sharing. As we are just days away from starting to collect orders, we had one flavor left to try: Gingerbread Man. The idea was that it would be a gingerbread ice cream with all of the elements of a gingerbread man in it (mainly cookie pieces, frosting, and sprinkles). And we added a few chocolate chunks, because why not?
Eating this ice cream is an experience! It is like Christmas in a bowl (or better yet, on a cone)! The more ice creams we make the better we are at predicting how much the ice cream will taste like the thing we want it to, and this ice cream is SPOT ON! With a base made with dark brown sugar and molasses, infused with ginger, cinnamon, and vanilla bean, this ice cream really is a Christmas miracle! If you are feeling the holiday spirit a little early, this is a must make!
Gingerbread Man
Like Christmas in a bowl (or on a cone)!
Ingredients
- Gingerbread Base
1 cup heavy cream
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, insides scraped out
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbs molasses
- Frosting (from this recipe)
6 Tbs softened butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Several drops green food coloring (optional, but festive)
- Chunks
Gingerbread cookie chunks (I used this recipe, but any recipe will do)
Chocolate chunks (see note)
Christmas sprinkles (I used the stick kind)
Directions
- Gingerbread Base
- Infuse the cream by adding it to a small sauce pan, along with the cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean scrapings, ginger, and cloves. Bring the mixture to a simmer stirring continuously for 5 minutes. Cover and let it cool before you make the rest of the ice cream. Remove the cinnamon sticks right before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. (You can prep the frosting, cookies, and chocolate chunks while it cools).
- Heat the infused cream and milk on low in a medium saucepan until it reaches 140° F, stirring occasionally. While the custard heats, using an electric mixer to whisk the 2 large eggs in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- While the cream is still heating, slowly add the dark brown sugar and molasses into the eggs, whisking thoroughly to make sure the mixture doesn’t become grainy.
- After the cream reaches the target temperature, gradually pour it into the egg and sugar mixture, again whisking each time the cream is added to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Pour the entire mixture back into the medium saucepan and heat it to 170° F.
- Now pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
- When ready, make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
- During the last 5 minutes in the ice cream maker (the ice cream should basically have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream), add in the cookies, chocolate chunks, and sprinkles. Don’t add it all in! Add handfuls at a time until you get your desired chunkiness.
- When the ice cream is ready to come out of the ice cream maker, add a layer of the ice cream to the container of your choice. Top that layer with the frosting. Add more ice cream, then top with another layer of frosting. Keep repeating until you have added all of the ice cream.
- Freeze until hardened (at least 4 hours).
- Frosting
- Add the softened butter and powdered sugar to a bowl and cream together with a whisk or beater. Gradually add the milk little bits at a time until you reach your desired consistency (be careful so that it doesn’t become too runny). Add in the food coloring if using and mix until it is all one uniform color.
- Add in the food coloring if using and mix until it is all one uniform color.
- Store in the fridge until you are ready to add it to the ice cream.
Notes
- To make the chocolate chunks, we used our tried and true method. We just add about 1/2 cup chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl with about 1 tsp of coconut oil. We microwave it for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each interval, until it is all melted and smooth. Be careful not to burn it! Then, we just spread a thin layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer (it solidifies really fast). Right before we add it to the ice cream we take it out and move fast as we chop it into small chunks. Word of warning, it melts fast, so you have to be faster!
