My favourite ice cream of all time is mint Oreo ice cream! I first tried the combination at – believe it or not – Dairy Queen! It is my favourite type of Blizzard combination. I thought since St. Patrick’s Day is this Monday, it would be a good time to make some St. Patrick’s Day inspired ice cream!
The great thing about ice cream is that when you get the basic recipe and technique down, you can experiment and try thousands of different combinations.
The base of this ice cream is a regular creme anglais with mint extract and green food colouring. You can leave the food colouring out as it just adds colour (which I find pretty festive!) The Oreos are roughly chopped and added in at the end of the churning cycle – or as some ice cream makers refer to it as the “add-ins” stage. You could also completely churn your ice cream and add the Oreo pieces in with a spatula at the end (this would avoid breaking up the cookies too much and causing your ice cream to look very “crumby”).
If you are not a fan of Oreos (I’m not sure I know anyone who doesn’t like Oreos!), you can add dark chocolate pieces instead.
Here is the recipe – I hope you enjoy it as much as I do (I ate the entire quart myself!)
Mint Oreo Ice Cream
Yields: 1 quart
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons mint extract
4 drops green food colouring (optional)
1 cup coarsely chopped Oreos
Method:
1. Warm 1 cup of the heavy cream, whole milk, granulated sugar and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan.
3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Add the vanilla extract and mint extract and the food colouring, and stir until cool over an ice bath.
4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (preferably overnight). Churn according to your ice cream maker’s directions, adding the Oreo pieces during the last 2 minutes of churning.
With Love,
Daily Tiramisu
