Recipe from Mads Refslund
Adapted by The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1 hour and 35 minutes, plus time to prepare ice cream maker and additional time for firming
- Rating
- 4(47)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Much of the joy of cooking for guests is in seeing the pleasure they take from your well-prepared meal. But there is a way to up the ante: serve a dish so unusual that they don’t think they could make it themselves. This ice cream, from Mads Refslund of Acme restaurant in New York, a leading chef in the New Nordic movement, is one of those dishes. The inclusion of toasted oak will raise eyebrows, but requires little additional work and yields wonderful results. The preparation of the custard may require a few steps, but is actually quite simple, and the ice cream machine does most of the heavy lifting. If you have time, you can let the oak infuse for longer; the oak flavor will deepen without becoming overwhelming. —The New York Times
Featured in: A Nordic Quest in New York
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Ingredients
Yield:1 quart
- 3cups whole milk
- 1¼cups heavy cream
- 1cup medium-toasted oak shavings or chips (available at LDCarlson.com, 800-321-0315, or home-brewing supply stores)
- 6½tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6½tablespoons turbinado (raw) sugar
- 5tablespoons honey
- ½teaspoon salt
- 8large egg yolks
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Prepare an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
Step
2
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream and oak shavings. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, watching carefully to keep from boiling over, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let mixture infuse for 45 minutes.
Step
3
Strain through a thin mesh colander or strainer into a heatproof bowl; discard oak shavings. Return mixture to a clean medium saucepan over very low heat.
Step
4
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, whisk together the granulated sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, salt and egg yolks until almost doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Add ⅓ of the warm oak-infused liquid and mix just until combined well, about 30 seconds.
Step
5
Return sugar and egg mixture to the saucepan of warm oak-infused milk, and gently stir in an “S” shape, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pan. Mixture will be ready when it appears silky and has thickened so that it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Step
6
Remove mixture from heat and set aside. Fill a large bowl with water and ice; place saucepan in it and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooling. Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Step
7
Finished ice cream will have the consistency of soft serve and should be served immediately or promptly placed in freezer to help solidify. Serve within 2 days for best results.
Ratings
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Cooking Notes
suzanne
We made this for our Easter dessert and the flavor is otherworldly in a most delicious way. I offer two tips:
1) the brewer's shop only had light roast oak chips so I put them in a 300-degree oven for about 1/2 hour to more closely achieve a medium roast.
2) in Step 4, I used a hand mixer to incorporate the liquid with the eggs and I think this was a mistake. The mixture became really foamy and it was difficult to determine a silky appearance. Next time I'll gently mix it by hand.
Sally McKee
Found med-toast oak chips at local brewing co. I chose French instead of American oak for its vanilla notes. I shouldn't have been surprised that the flavor is salted caramel with an oak finish. After steeping the oak chips in milk/cream, I followed Melissa Clark's excellent "The Only Ice Cream Recipe You'll Ever Need." But why did my ice cream come out the color of light mocha instead of the golden color in the recipe's photo? Now want to explore nouveau Nordic.
Lisa
This was very nice and fun to serve at a Santa Maria bbq dinner which typically has ice cream for dessert and cooks the tri-tip over oak chips! My one consideration would be to not let the milk/cream infuse with the oak chips for too long. I did a couple hours and it was very oak-y. I think it would be even better with a less pronounced oak flavor.
cattails
Divine texture. I've made a fair bit of ice cream and this was possibly the creamiest I've made. Maybe I needed up my simmer, but I didn't get much oak flavor. I think most of the flavor came from the honey and the turbinado so next time I'd let the chips infuse longer than 45. FWIW, I used the same chips as suggested in the recipe. I just used Golden Blossom brand bc it's what was on hand, but next time would use a higher quality/more interesting honey. Was still delicious
Oaky Doaky
Does 1 cup of these translate to ~8 ounces? Can order by the ounce at my local homebrew store
Chuck
Going to try use oak pellets instead (because that’s what I have). Fingers crossed it doesn’t taste like eating a campfire.
Oaky Doaky
How'd it turn out, Chuck?!
Lisa
This was very nice and fun to serve at a Santa Maria bbq dinner which typically has ice cream for dessert and cooks the tri-tip over oak chips! My one consideration would be to not let the milk/cream infuse with the oak chips for too long. I did a couple hours and it was very oak-y. I think it would be even better with a less pronounced oak flavor.
wot
Why make the amount of oak mixture suggested then only use a 1/3?
Gordon Wassermann
You use 1/3 of the oak mixture to dilute the sugar and egg mixture so it won't curdle when you pour it into the main body of liquid, but afterwards you do return the diluted eggs to the rest of the oak infusion and use the full amount to make the custard.
Sally McKee
Found med-toast oak chips at local brewing co. I chose French instead of American oak for its vanilla notes. I shouldn't have been surprised that the flavor is salted caramel with an oak finish. After steeping the oak chips in milk/cream, I followed Melissa Clark's excellent "The Only Ice Cream Recipe You'll Ever Need." But why did my ice cream come out the color of light mocha instead of the golden color in the recipe's photo? Now want to explore nouveau Nordic.
wot
They may have used free range eggs and you did not. The yolks would have been more golden.
suzanne
We made this for our Easter dessert and the flavor is otherworldly in a most delicious way. I offer two tips:
1) the brewer's shop only had light roast oak chips so I put them in a 300-degree oven for about 1/2 hour to more closely achieve a medium roast.
2) in Step 4, I used a hand mixer to incorporate the liquid with the eggs and I think this was a mistake. The mixture became really foamy and it was difficult to determine a silky appearance. Next time I'll gently mix it by hand.
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