whine & dine

I was at a friend’s place a couple of weeks ago, two fingers of Bailey’s Irish Cream poured over a few ice cubes in a lowball. Swirling, sipping. Now, Bailey’s – contrary to popular belief – is a difficult drink to drink. You see, there’s that optimum point where it has been gently swirled around ice cubes long enough for it to be chilled perfectly, yet not left too long that it’s gotten diluted. You have to keep sniffing, swirling, and sipping, to figure out when that point is, then stop talking and enjoy it, before it passes and you have to top it up with more ice and Bailey’s before you’ll get back there again.

Suddenly I had a craving for Bailey’s ice cream. 15 minutes of Googling later, I’d perused a bunch of recipes that essentially directed you to make a pint of vanilla ice cream, then add in 1/2 a cup of Baileys before churning. Custard and eggless varieties included, I even saw one “recipe” where someone bought a tub of vanilla ice cream, stirred in Baileys, and froze it again.

So this weekend, when the same friend rang me up telling me that she’d gotten a bottle of Baileys for me, I slapped together the ingredients for a vanilla custard, and waited for the bottle to arrive with my dinner guests in tow. An hour later, I had a pint of probably the best ice cream I’ve had in a long time. It was so good fresh out of the machine, when it hadn’t really frozen completely yet, but even better the next day. Also, it went great with my pistachio cake, as well as straight up, or with an extra drizzle of Baileys over the ice cream.

Note: Measurements are approximated in the recipe below, as I didn’t actually measure carefully when I was making it this time. It should be about right though, just taste the custard before churning to make sure you’re happy with it before you start. Also, resist the urge to add too much Baileys – too much alcohol will prevent it from freezing solid, and also you really don’t want to get drunk on ice cream. It sounds like a good idea now, but it isn’t – trust me!

Bailey’s Ice Cream

400ml whipping cream
400ml full cream milk (I used Hokkaido milk for that extra creaminess)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
6 tbsp caster sugar
1 pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1/2 to 2/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream

Combine the cream, milk, vanilla seeds and pod, and half the sugar in a saucepan over very low heat until just below boiling point, then remove from the heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, salt and the rest of the sugar in a mixing bowl and whip until very pale and fluffy. It should triple in volume at least.

When the cream is ready, fish out the pod and discard. Temper the eggs by slowly pour the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly so as to prevent the eggs from curdling. Prepare a large bowl with ice water, and set a smaller bowl inside it. Strain the mixture into a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Pour the custard into the prepared bowl in the ice bath, and cool to room temperature quickly. Cover, and chill until cold (or preferably overnight).

Mix in the Baileys, then churn in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions, or freeze in a shallow container, whisking the mixture every 30 minutes to break up the ice crystals, for 4 hours or until soft-serve consistency. Transfer to an air-tight container and freeze until solid.