The Hawthorn or May Flower begins to bloom by the 1st of May and is central to many traditions involved in the May Day festival. You will need to gather at least six branches to extract enough flowers for this ice cream. I’ve had interesting reactions to it, some loving it’s honeyed earthy taste and some hating it because, very strangely, it has a very slightly fishy undercurrent.
Equipment
Weighing scales
Measuring jug
Medium bowl with 1 litre capacity
2 large saucepans
Sieve
Colander
Muslin
Large mixing bowl
Electric hand whisk
Wooden spoon
Ice cream maker or food processor
Freezable plastic lidded container or ice-cream pots
Preparation method
If you are using an ice cream maker that requires the bowl to be frozen, place it in the freezer at least 24 hours before you want to make the ice-cream.
To make the ice cream, first remove the flowers from the hawthorn branches and place in the medium bowl – you should have enough flowers to fill it. I needed about 6 branches.
Transfer to the sieve and rinse through with cold water.
Place the milk and cream in the saucepan with the hawthorn flowers and bring to the boil.
Immediately take off the heat and allow to infuse for half an hour.
Place 2 layers of muslin in a colander placed over the medium bowl and pour the hawthorn flavoured milk and cream through the muslin.
Squeeze as much liquid as you can from the muslin. You should have 600ml of liquid. If you don’t, add a little more milk and cream.
Place the egg yolks and sugar into the large mixing bowl and whisk until thick and pale in colour.
Continue to whisk as you pour the infused milk/cream into the egg and sugar mixture.
Transfer the custard into a saucepan and heat gently.
As it heats stir continuously with the wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken.
Once it coats the back of the spoon remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature and then place in the fridge for a few hours until really cold.
After this time, if the custard is too thick add a little double cream and whisk in to loosen it.
Get the ice cream maker churning and pour in the cold custard and churn until you have an ice cream consistency.
Transfer into a plastic container or cardboard ice cream pot and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours before eating.
Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into a freezeable lidded container and freeze for 2-3 hrs until semi-frozen.
Scrape the semi-frozen mixture into a food processor and blitz to break down the lumps of ice – you may need to scrape down the sides a few times.
Put the ice cream back in the container and freeze for another 1-2 hrs.
Repeat this process another two or three times. The more times you blend the ice cream, the smoother it will be.
Note: I tend to prefer to use a hand-held electric whisk so the recipes refer to this, but you may prefer to use a stand mixer. Just use the beater for mixing cake batters and the whisk for egg whites and cream.
Victorian
Serves:
8
Prep Time 6 hourshours
Total Time 6 hourshours
Ingredients
300mlmilk
300mldouble cream
6Branches of hawthorn blossom
3large egg yolks
150gcaster sugar
Pinchsalt
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Hawthorn blossom ice cream
Serving Size
100 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
242
Percent of Daily Value*
Fat
16
g
25
%
Saturated Fat
10
g
63
%
Cholesterol
116
mg
39
%
Sodium
72
mg
3
%
Potassium
93
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
22
g
7
%
Sugar
22
g
24
%
Protein
5
g
10
%
Calcium
76
mg
8
%
Iron
0.2
mg
1
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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