Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble

Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble  |  Lemon & Mocha

It is part two of the Lemon & Mocha honey series! Weren’t you just sitting there in anticipation since Wednesday’s sweet and sticky honey baked wings? I won’t be upset if you weren’t. I will, however, be upset if you don’t shout with joy now that you are finally reading the second honey post. No pressure.

Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble  |  Lemon & Mocha

Honey is found in many desserts from honey cakes to sticky buns. My grandma uses honey to amp up her oatmeal cookies. One of my favorite ways to eat honey at dessert time is in ice cream. No surprise there.

Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble  |  Lemon & Mocha

This honey ice cream with candied almond crumble is sweet, smooth and crunchy all at once. The honey flavors comes through very strong, which is perfect if you want a bold dessert featuring honey. If you are not a huge honey fan you can either use a more subtle honey or substitute half the honey with another flavoring of your choice, such as peanut butter.

Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble  |  Lemon & Mocha

Did I mention the almonds yet? They are coated with a sugar syrup then left to cool and harden making them sweet, snackable and impossible to stop eating. But save some for your ice cream!

Honey Ice Cream with Pralined Almond Crumble
 
Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients
for the ice cream
  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • ½ cup good-flavored honey
  • 1½ cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
for the pralined almond crumble
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup whole almonds, unblanched and untoasted
  • ⅛ teaspoon coarse salt
Directions
for the ice cream
  1. Add the heavy cream and the honey to a large bowl. Place a fine mesh sieve over top and set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low whisk together the milk, sugar and salt until warm. Meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Carefully pour the warmed milk mixture, whisking constantly, then pour the whole mixture back into the medium saucepan.
  3. Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture while stirring until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Make sure the mixture never reaches a boil. Remove from the heat and pour through the fine mesh strainer into the large bowl.
  4. Place the large bowl in an ice bath. Slowly add the cream and continue to stir while sitting in the ice bath until cool.
  5. Once cool, remove from the ice bath then cover and chill in the fridge overnight.
  6. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, pouring in 1 cup of the pralined almond crumble with 5 minutes left.
for the pralined almond crumble
  1. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil and set aside.
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat combine the water, sugar and almonds. Cook and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the liquid comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved then reduce heat to medium.
  3. Continue to cook until the liquid mixture has become sandy in texture. Continue to stir the dark syrup making sure to scrape from the bottom and completely coat the almonds. Keep stirring until the almonds are shiny and glossy.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat before sprinkling with the salt. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet and spread them out. Let them completely cool, breaking up any clusters as needed.
  5. Roughly chop. Pour 1 cup into the ice cream mixture with 5 minutes left. Reserve the rest for topping.

Ice cream slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop.