White Chocolate-Rose Geranium Ice Cream

11/2 cups whole milk
11/2 cups heavy cream
10 to 12 fresh organic rose geranium leaves, coarsely chopped
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish (optional):
Organic pink rose petals (at least seven)
Organic rose geranium leaves, whole (at least seven)

1. Combine milk, heavy cream and geranium leaves in stainless steel saucepan. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat. Turn off heat. Allow leaves to steep in warm mixture about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk eggs and sugar in bowl.

3. Place chopped white chocolate and vanilla extract in another bowl. Set aside.

4. Using stainless steel sieve, strain cream into egg mixture to remove geranium leaves. Press any excess fluid from leaves through sieve. Whisk to combine.

5. Place ice cream base in clean stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Do not boil, or base will break.

6. Immediately remove base from heat. Using fine mesh stainless steel sieve, strain mixture into bowl containing chocolate and vanilla. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

7. Cover surface of base with plastic wrap and allow base to cool to room temperature.

8. Refrigerate mixture until it is has completely cooled to refrigerator temperature, about 40-45°F, or about 3 hours. (You can accelerate this process by placing mixture in shallow bowl in freezer for about 20-30 minutes.)

9. Pour chilled base into bowl of ice cream machine, and churn following manufacturer's instructions. Remember: Many ice cream machines have bowls that must be thoroughly frozen first. Mixture should churn to relatively stiff consistency within 30 minutes in most commercially available machines. For firmer consistency, turn churned ice cream into small chilled bowl, cover with plastic and freeze for another 1-2 hours before serving.

10. Using small ice cream scoop, transfer ice cream to chilled serving dishes. Garnish each with pink rose petal and geranium leaf, as desired. Serve immediately.

This recipe developed by Julia M. Usher

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