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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Bit o' Honey

This week would have been kind of comical had it been someone else's life.  Let me count the way that things have gone wrong:

Eleemosynary:  Looked so good last week, total nightmare this week.  The set carpenter hasn't shown up for two days and one of the actors has taken it upon herself to declaim that she doesn't like the set or her costume.  Le sigh.

Deposition:  I went to Oregon Tuesday night, a trip that was ill-timed to begin with, to take a deposition on Wednesday morning.  Cue freak snowstorm that shut down parts of Oregon, including the one where the person I was deposing had to travel from--deposition cancelled.  The trip was all for naught.  Le sigh again.

The new living room furniture arrived--good news--and requires assembly.  However, the couch box wouldn't fit through the front door and the couch is in pieces in the garage.  In the meantime, my mother-in-law Hope arrives next week and David is going on a business trip.  See the problem?

I need a good night's sleep, enough time to exercise, a good opening night and perhaps a Valium.  Maybe not in that order.

Enough with the kvetching.  As part of my marathon cooking therapy session (I'm making that up, but maybe there should be such a thing) last weekend, I made gelato.  Our old ice-cream maker died an ignominious death a while ago, and we weren't motivated to replace it until a particularly unfortunate incident last month when the gorgeous vanilla ice cream base fully refused to freeze despite hours in the ice-cream maker.

But I didn't want ice cream:  I wanted gelato.  That's right, I'm dreaming of an Italian vacation that is two months away. 

This is a very basic gelato recipe that seems more or less fail safe.  The only word of caution is to use good-quality honey, because you really can taste it.  I used a clover honey, but next time I will use fireweed honey, which is flavored with the quintessential Alaska flower/weed that blooms everywhere in the summer.  Lavender honey would also be gorgeous.


Honey Gelato
Adapted from A16 Food + Wine

3 3/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup clover honey

Follow the instructions for your ice-cream maker;  the bowl of mine needs to be frozen overnight and this base needs to sit overnight, so start your prep the night before.

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and cream.  Transfer three tablespoons of this mixture to a a bowl and stir in the cornstarch.

Heat the saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Whisk in the cornstarch mixture, corn syrup, granulated sugar and sea salt.  Allow it to boil again, whisking often.

Strain the milk mixture through a cheesecloth or very fine sieve to remove any solids and stir in the honey.  Let the mixture come to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When you're ready to make the gelato, give the mixture a good stir and pour into the bowl of the ice-cream maker.  Process until the mixture is the consistency of soft-serve frozen yogurt, then remove the bowl from the maker and return it to the freezer.  It will harden a bit more, but not much.

Makes approximately 1 1/2 quarts gelato.

36 comments:

  1. This looks great will help make up for a rough week,
    If you are in Rome, Gelato Di San Crispino is the most amazing thing I urge you to try it. Now you have me longing for a return trip..

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  2. You've had one hell of a week!! You deserve this amazing sounding gelato! I just got into trying all these new flavors after a visit to a gelato lab but I didn't see any honey there! This looks delicious, wish I could have some right now!

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  3. Oh wow, this sounds so luscious and dreamy. I adore gelato. I've never had honey-flavored before.

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  4. Mmmm!!!! sounds like my life with the ups and downs. Love the Italian ice-creams I had during my trip there but because the weather was so breezy and cold, I did not go all out tasting the different flavours.

    I want to try this home version of yours for over here we have the burning hot sun and its sure will be great to cool down our system. Wonder if its possible to make without the ice-cream maker, sort of sorbet and frozen.

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  5. There are few gelato places around but I take well advantage of the ones I do see! A honey gelato does sound delicious, I can just imagine the texture-yum! You have have a hectic week, so this looks like the perfect remedy. Have a great weekend.

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  6. You had a rough week and do deserve something sweet and delicious.
    Clover honey sounds really lovely.

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  7. Nothing could cure your week blues like this decadent gelato - honey flavoured? I am so in :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  8. I will start dreaming a vacation to Italy too!! That gelato looks delicious!

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  9. I have awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award because I found your blog to be simply awesome and delicious - come check it out here: http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/a-monstrous-post/
    Congrats :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  10. this looks wonderful delicious of this type of season

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  11. Love! I'm not a huge honey fan EXCEPT in gelato or ice cream. Delicious! Hope next week gets better for you :)

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  12. Sounds like you had a rough week. That gelato looks delish!

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  13. Sorry to hear about your not so good week, but things will get better. And nothing better to end the rough week with homemade gelato, the honey flavor sounds delicious!

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  14. This is a great way to end a bad week! Hope things get better!

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  15. Oh, another gelato recipe to try...THANK YOU!!! "Hope" that couch of yours miraculously makes its way into the house before your MIL arrives~

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  16. What a week! I hope you don't have another one like this. But if you do....just start counting down the days to your Italy trip! This gelato looks beautiful! And I think that lavender honey sounds like a luscious idea! Here's hoping next week is a better one for you!!! : )

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  17. You really know the cure to a bad week - sweet, creamy, salty and delicious! I want this gelato!!!! Thanks for taking the time to make it and then share it with us!

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  18. Your gelato has to help with an otherwise challenging week. The coming week has to be better!

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  19. Life is always up and down. I'm sorry this week wasn't so good for you. My week was extra hard with two kids alone due to my husband's business trip (1 whole week!!!). I wish I had this delicious Gelato with me! I bet it would have been gone in one day. =P

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  20. Oh boy, I hope things work out soon! *hugs*
    The gelato looks fantastic - I've never had honey gelato, but it sounds like a wonderfully sweet, creamy creation.

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  21. I hope this gelato had serious healing powers for you! My least favorite things are traveling in snow storms and assembling furniture. Mother in laws don't need couches anyway...right? :) Hope this upcoming week brings better things your way!

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  22. Sorry you had such a rough week! Bet the gelato did its fair share of cheering you up! :)

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  23. Looks like you DID have a rough week my friend!Good idea of making Gelato to make you feel better!I've never made these, but with the warm weather here in NJ, its the perfect thing to make.Will give it a try soon :)

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  24. seems you had a very rough streak days.. I hope now you feeling much better and all the problem solved,honey gelato is great to turn in back your mood

    cheers

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  25. Isn't Gelato means ice cream in Italian? I guess I can make this. Thanks for letting us know about the honey.

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  26. Love me some gelato! And, The Hubs has been urging me to cook/bake/create more with honey. (He has bees being delivered any day now!)

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  27. I can eat honey by the spoonful and of course ice cream as well. So I know this recipe for Honey Gelato has to be out of this world. I'm going to make this and use my ice cream machine. Can't wait to try it!

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  28. I love gelato. My favourite is hazelnut gelato but with a bit of lemon sorbet as well. Had it in Rome once and it was delicious. Your honey gelato sounds incredible. I need an ice cream maker - now! :)

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  29. Oh, you've had a rough run of things lately. I really hope that things get better, especially with the play you are directing. I cannot even imagine how stressful that would be.
    When we were in Italy last year we made it a rule that we had to eat 2 gelato a day, and we were very good rule followers and stuck to it. The gelato there is out of this world amazing. You should probably make a rule like that for yourself when you go. I have been begging my husband for an ice cream maker and hoping to get one for my birthday in June. Until then, I will just sigh and look longingly at yours.

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  30. I have been wanting to go to Rome four years now and always something comes up and we postpone it. This gelato reminded me of this trip and how desperately I need vacations like you do! yum, yum!

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  31. Ugh I hate weeks like that and I heard about that snow storm- glad I missed it! Gelato seems like a good way to make things a little better and this recipe looks totally fantastic.

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  32. Sure hope your week is going better!!! I love Gelato and am looking for a reason to get my ice cream maker out. I just bought some local honey, cuz they say local honey will help with allergies. See this gelato will have a health benefit too.

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  33. so sorry about your rough week,it's a life things,hope everyting get Better and sweet like this honey gelato,looks smooth and Yummy :)
    Ridwan

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  34. Sorry about the crappy week, but the gelato looks great! Have you ever tried making it without the ice cream maker? I'm wondering if I can just put the mix in the freezer and stir it a couple of times during the process?

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  35. I hate suckie weeks. But nothing says turning it around like some gelato!

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