Meyer Lemon Ice Cream with Candied Jalapenos

Jalapeños are the most popular chile peppers in the US. This is probably due to the availability and versatility of the chile. Jalapeños have a balanced combination of flavor and heat. The demand for these have caused breeders to develop a broad range of varieties.

Heat Scale
Submit Recipe

Ingredients

For candied jalapenos
  1. 2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, and diced
  2. 1 cup sugar
For ice cream base
  1. 2 cups whole milk
  2. 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  3. 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  4. 2/3 cup sugar
  5. 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  6. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  7. 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
  8. 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

Instructions

To make the candied jalapenos
  1. Combine the sugar with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, and when sugar is dissolved, add the jalapenos and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain well. (Discard liquid, unless maybe you want some spicy simple syrup for other uses–cocktails?)
  2. Spread out the jalapeno pieces on a sheet of wax paper, Leave them out until dry (this took me overnight, which conveniently is how long I usually chill the custard).
To make the ice cream base
  1. Combine 1/4 cup of the milk and the cornstarch until smooth and set aside.
  2. In a large saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream along with the sugar, corn syrup, lemon zest, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let the mixture steep for an hour.
  3. Return to mixture to a boil, stir in the cornstarch slurry, and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  4. Pour 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into a small bowl with the cream cheese and whisk until completely smooth, then whisk this into the rest of the milk mixture. Strain mixture through a fine mesh, discard solids, cover and chill thoroughly.
  5. When mixture is completely chilled, churn ice cream according to manufacturer instructions, then fold in the candied jalapenos and transfer to a storage container before freezing. Makes a quart.

Recipe from 10th Kitchen, 2014