Maple Walnut Ice Cream
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If ever there were an “autumn” ice cream, maple walnut ice cream would be a top contender! Real maple syrup, lightly toasted walnuts in a rich creamy ice cream base is the perfect flavor combination for cooler days. While it’s easy to find common ice cream flavors like chocolate, vanilla or rocky road, maple ice cream is not as easy to find in supermarkets.
I love homemade ice cream, because I can make whatever flavor I choose and control the ingredients. Most store-bought ice cream is full of artificial flavors, colors, guar gum, caramel color, and high fructose corn syrup, which we avoid.
This maple ice cream uses pure maple syrup, not maple extract or maple flavor, and just a few basic ingredients.
Ingredients for homemade maple walnut ice cream
I use one basic recipe for all my ice cream recipes. I love a rich custard base with egg yolks. Lots of ice milk and ice cream recipes skip the egg yolks. I usually add a tablespoon or two of alcohol to my sorbets and ice cream recipes, which helps retard the crystal growth, and keeps the ice cream creamy. I’ve omitted any alcohol in this recipe since the maple syrup acts in a similar way as corn syrup or alcohol and helps keep the ice cream from freezing too hard.
- heavy cream
- whole milk
- egg yolks
- maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
- walnuts
- vanilla extract
How to make homemade ice cream
This method is the same for all custard based ice cream recipes. For maple pecan ice cream, substitute chopped pecans for the walnuts.
- In a large sauce pan heat up milk until boiling.
- In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and maple syrup.
- Beat in heavy cream.
- Temper egg yolk and cream mixture by adding hot milk a ladle full at a time, whisking constantly.
- Once about half of the milk has been whisked into the egg yolks and cream, slowly add the egg mixture back into the milk, whisking constantly.
- Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
- Prepare and ice bath and using a mesh strainer, pour custard into a bowl over ice bath.
- Stir to cool down mixture. For best results, chill mixture until it’s completely cooled. Add vanilla extract.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your ice cream machine.
- Chop and lightly toast walnuts. Add chopped walnuts to ice cream machine towards the end of the churning cycle. The ice cream will be soft serve texture and can be eaten immediately.
- But for “store bought” texture, pack ice cream in an airtight container and freeze at least 8 hours or overnight.
Looking for more homemade ice cream and sorbet recipes?
Here are some of my favorite ice cream tools an equipment
This is my Ice Cream Maker which is a compressor model. If you’re looking for a more inexpensive ice cream maker, this Ice Cream Maker is under $80.00.
Don’t forget the Sundae Dishes or Ice Cream Cones.
Keep your ice cream fresh in these Ice Cream Containers. This is my favorite Ice Cream Scoop.
Maple Walnut Ice Cream
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, heat milk over medium heat until lightly bubbling.
- In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, maple syrup and heavy cream until well blended.
- Once milk has reached a simmer, temper egg yolk and cream mixture, by adding hot milk, a ladle full at a time, whisking constantly. Once half of the milk has been added to the egg and cream mixture, whisk it back into the sauce pan with the milk.
- Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly until custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
- Prepare an ice bath and pour custard through a sieve into a bowl over an ice bath, whisk in vanilla. Cool custard completely before adding to ice cream machine.
- Chop and lightly toast walnuts. Add chopped walnuts to ice cream mixture towards the end of the churning cycle. Ice cream will be ready to eat with a soft serve texture. Or pack ice cream in an airtight container and freeze overnight for firmer ice cream.
This looks yummy, but do you have any tips on how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker? Now does this count as an entry? lol
I will add those! You can put the base in a container and take it out after a couple of hours and beat it with a hand mixer. Return to the freezer and repeat 2-3 more times to whip air into it as it freezes.