This Buttermilk Ice Cream Is Surprisingly Tangy — Claudia Fleming’s Recipe, Done Easy

In the last week, we’ve made not-so-subtle hints about buns in ovens, cravings and peas in pods so it’s an only natural transition to ice cream, whether or not you eat it with sweet grape pickles.

I’m horribly overdue to finally dish out the recipe for Claudia Fleming’s incredible buttermilk ice cream — she of the scones, the gingerbread and the sandies — something I promised in January and have been going on about since December, when a friend sent me home with a pint she’d made. This stuff is perfection — all of the elements of a great vanilla ice cream with an extra tang that keeps it from being, well, “vanilla”.

Buttermilk is a funny thing. I can’t remember my mother using it once growing up and when I started baking more, was horrified by the stuff, which smells and taste a lot like the curdled milk that it is. How wrong is that? But now I love it. I mean, I haven’t taken to drinking a glass of it warm like a certain cooking instructor told me his elderly mother does — yeesh! — but when I smell it, I think of biscuits and cakes and muffins and I like it. So an ice cream that magnifies this deliciousness was not meant to last long in our apartment.

Except — and I’m deeply ashamed to admit this — I made this at the wrong time. It was January, and I hadn’t quite figured out yet why I had no appetite and this batch of ice cream sat unloved, aside from a rare dish or spoonful, in the freezer for months. Basically, if it didn’t taste like grapes or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I pretty much wasn’t eating it those weeks, despite trying to woo my taste buds with steak sandwiches, empanadas and currys. Last weekend, as we hurriedly dumped the remaining contents of our freezer as the movers heaved our poor sofa down three narrow flights of stairs, it emerged again and made a regretful exit from our apartment and I’ve craved it every minute since.

I’d like to say “don’t let this happen to you!” but I believe these cruel inconsistencies in appetite are out of our hands. I will say instead that if you make some, and you should, can you save a bit for me? I haven’t unearthed my ice cream maker and Haagen Dazs just ain’t cutting it.

Oooohh-klahoma! We fly out to the Pioneer Woman’s ranch tomorrow morning and I can’t wait. Seriously, anything to get away from The Great Unpacking of Aught-Nine. On Saturday, I’ll be demo-ing a few of my favorite New Yorkish recipes to a small group at the Lodge and on Sunday, Ree and I will be cooking up some more, or pretending to while I actually go out and ogle the cows cowboys. I hope to get an update or two in while I’m there (I was going to ask if they had connectivity out there; I’m not that bright these days) but if you’re anxious, you should also check out the Pioneer Woman’s site as she is a blogging machine and will no doubt have an almost-live feed of the weekend. Yee-haw!

Buttermilk Ice Cream

At-a-glance

Ingredients

*See note under method: fewer yolks (e.g., 6–8) will produce a less rich but still superior result.

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream and 1 cup of the sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until combined and slightly thickened.

Remove the cream from the heat and, while whisking constantly, drizzle a small amount of the hot cream into the yolks to temper them. Repeat this warming step a few times so the yolks gradually come up in temperature, then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan with the cream, whisking continuously to prevent curdling.

Cook the combined custard over low heat until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard into a bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Cool the mixture completely, then freeze according to your ice-cream maker’s instructions.

*I’m going to share with you a little secret: You don’t need to use all of these egg yolks. Oh sure, you can and the results will blow your ice cream-loving mind. However, let’s say you find that you only have six or eight egg yolks on hand, this will also do. The ice cream will be less rich, but still incredibly more rich than anything you can buy at any store.

[Image omitted — original showed related photo]

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