Cinnamon Ice Cream with Dulce de Leche

Last weekend marked the annual take the ice cream maker out of the pantry celebration. I decided to mix up some cinnamon ice cream and turned to a recipe from ice cream guru David Lebovitz. It turned out creamy and sweet with warmth and depth of flavor. It would be completely delicious next to a slice of apple pie, but I decided to pair it with David's dulce de leche, which is just condensed milk and a little salt transformed into pure caramelly sweetness. I poured the finished product into a squeeze bottle, which made it perfect for topping ice cream (and aiming into one's mouth). A smattering of chocolate sprinkles made the whole thing slightly more irresistible.

Cinnamon Ice Cream
Recipe courtesy of David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
10 3-inch cinnamon sticks, broken up
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the cream on a medium saucepan. Once warm, cover and remove from heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Rewarm the cinnamon infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and discard them. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.