Experimental Ice Cream Number Three

I've made a couple of experimental ice creams already, and they all came out, so I'm trying another, based on a conversation that I'd had with Liz in which she mentioned such a combination and it intrigued me:

Clementine-Cardamom Ice Cream

1 ½ c.	heavy cream
6 to 9	clementines, zest and juice, separated (~1 ½ c. juice, 2 T. zest)
1 c.	granulated sugar
1 t	vanilla extract
4	black cardamom pods, seeds only

Bring cream, sugar, and cardamom to a boil. Stir in juice and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

Strain mixture through cheesecloth into chilling bowl and allow to chill for several hours or overnight.

Put into ice cream maker and allow to churn until ice cream reaches desired consistency. Remove paddle, cover, and freeze until ready to serve.

At this moment, I'm allowing the mixture to cool on the balcony to room temperature before placing it into the fridge to chill.  I hadn't realized that Kat had eaten the remaining coconut milk-lime ice cream that I'd made last week until I opened the freezer to take something else out and noticed that the freezer bowl was uncovered (I usually keep it covered with plastic wrap).  That ice cream was quite pungent:

Coconut Milk-Lime Ice Cream

7 oz.	Unsweetened Coconut milk
2/3 c.	Heavy Cream
5	limes - juice and zest about ¾ c. juice and 1 ½ T zest
1 c.	granulated sugar
1 t	vanilla extract

Mix & heat in heavy-bottomed pan until simmering. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in fridge to chill thoroughly.

Churn in ice cream machine until it reaches desired consistency.  Cover and keep in freezer until ready to serve.

The basics of making ice cream (churned frozen desserts in general?) seems to be pretty straightforward:  combine and cook custard, cool, churn, then freeze.

I've been thinking about making something along the lines of either rosemary or basil ice cream, to have an herby flavor.  The cardamom appears to combine well with fruit, as well:

Meyer Lemon Curd-Cardamom Ice Cream with Coconut Milk

4	jumbo egg yolks (or 6 yolks if using large eggs)
1 c.	fresh lemon curd, chilled
½ c.	granulated white sugar (adjust to sweetness of lemon curd)
4 c.	heavy cream
1 c.	unsweetened coconut milk
1 t	vanilla extract
5	black cardamom pods
2 T	fresh Meyer lemon juice from half of one lemon

1. Beat egg yolks with sugar and vanilla extract.
2. Heat cream, coconut milk, and seeds scraped from cardamom pods in large saucepan to almost boiling. Remove from heat until cool, then bring back to simmer for about 5 minutes, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
3. Add lemon curd, and mix in thoroughly.
4. Allow custard mixture to cool, covered, overnight in the refrigerator (do not put in freezer).
5. Assemble ice cream maker. Wrap bowl in a couple layers of towels. Allow machine to churn until desired consistency is reached.  Remove paddle and freeze until serving.

So these are pretty rich recipes (with the possible exception of this morning's recipe, which does not contain any eggs, but still includes heavy cream).  I'm considering making a frozen dessert that will not use cream or eggs, something more like a sorbet, perhaps.  I'll post it if it works out.