Fresh Ginger Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Truffles

This has been a crazy winter, closer to the Arctics.

Just as people started thinking winter is passe, just as the snow was melting, showing signs of green beneath, just as we were getting ready to welcome the blossoms, it started again! A fresh bout of thick snow, poor visibility, temperature barely close to zero; probably, the final seize before bidding farewell.

The following morning came like a blessing. Waking up to a ’deceptively’ sunny morning, eager to reach the other end of a hurried Friday, one could not but take one’s eyes away, even while running at top speed to catch the bus already at the stop, from the snow-silver branches against a blue sky, glittering in the warm sun. The snow, like soft down, laid a happy carpet along the alley. Careful there though – about the layer of ice below.

This has been the craziest winter ever, in Trondheim.

Some say, it’s the first time in 52 years; some say this much snow is pretty common here, but for so long? No, no. Some say this has been the longest and coldest winter. And some, crazily, are not getting tired of the snow. And the cold. And all that skiing.

Winter in Trondheim (where folks say that there are only two seasons, two winters, a white winter and a green winter) is a time for fun. It’s the time for skiing. It’s time to go for walks in the woods and make a bonfire on the frozen lake. It’s time to make huge snow lions amd mermaids. It’s time for picnics and outdoor get-together and hotdog parties. It’s time to roll in the snow. It’s time to go jogging with your shoe-clips on. It’s time for ice creams.

Ice creams. (Shiver!) Ice creams when the outdoor temperature records a minus 20 or below for days? When do YOU think is the ideal time for a scoop? And if it’s some-ice-cream that makes you feel warm? Help the digestive juices flow? And pleases your palate at the same time?

Hats off to the one and only David Lebovitz whose The Perfect Scoop can turn sane people into ice cream maniacs.


Fresh Ginger Ice cream with Dark Chocolate Truffles
~~ from The Perfect Scoop

What do you need?

~ Fresh ginger - 3 ounces (85g), unpeeled
~ Whole milk - 1 cup (250 ml)
~ Heavy cream - 1 cup plus 1 cup (500 ml, total)
~ Sugar - 3/4 cup (130 g)
~ Salt – a pinch
~ Egg yolks - 5 large

What should you do?

1. Slice the ginger as thinly as possible, cover it with water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and discard the liquid.

2. Return the blanched ginger to the pan. Add the salt, sugar, milk, and 1 cup of heavy cream and warm. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for at least an hour.

3. Arrange an ice bath for the remaining 1 cup of cream: In a large bowl, place ice cubes and a little cold water to barely cover them. Pour the cream in a slightly smaller bowl and set this bowl into the bigger one. Place a mesh strainer on top of the cream-bowl. You will need to pour the warm custard in this and stir until cool.

4. Rewarm the ginger-milk mixture. Remove and discard the ginger slices with a slotted spoon.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Gradually, add some of the ginger-milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg doesn’t curdle. Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the pan and cook over low heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a heat-proof spatula. Don’t boil. Continue heating until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

6. Pour the warm custard into the cream sitting on the ice bath, through the mesh strainer. Help the custard strain through the mesh with the spatula. Stir the mixture until it cools to room temperature and then put it in the fridge for 8 hours or more to chill.

7. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Note: Now what happens if you are an amateur, first time, spontaneous, ill-planned ’ice cream maker’? Does that mean you would have to let go one of the most intriguing, not available-in-stores-type-ice-creams? Of course not. There is always a round-about.

Get your blender out on the counter or get ready for some muscle work. What the ice cream maker does is to churn the custard while it cools and freezes, to get as much possible air into it. That’s what makes the store bought ice creams soft and fluffy. And to compensate for an ice cream maker, we need to whip in air into our chilled custard. Every 30 minutes, take the custard out of the freezer and whip with your hand-held mixer or stick-blender or just a spatula or whip. Your ice cream should be ready in 3-4 hours in the freezer (in this way – so you have to whip it at least 7-8 times before it sets). Enjoy it fresh.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

~~ from The Perfect Scoop

~ Heavy cream – ½ cup + 1 tablespoon (140 ml)
~ Light corn syrup – 3 tablespoons (45 ml)
~ Chocolate – 6 ounces (170 g), bittersweet or semisweet, chopped
~ Cognac, rum, or other liquor or liqueur – 1 teaspoon


1. Heat the cream with the corn syrup in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Add the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate melts and the liquid is smooth.

2. Mix in the liquour or whatever being used. Scrape the contents into a smaller bowl and let rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

3. Line a plate or tray with plastic wrap and use two spoons to form small balls of the firm chocolate mixture. Or feel free to use your hands. I took out the mixture while it was still soft and pipeable and used my cake decoration set to practice making shells, borders, and stars. When they were finely chopped for adding into the ice cream, they appeared like small chocolatey stars or snow flakes.

4. Freeze them until you are ready to use. Ideally, chop them before mixing in the ice cream.

Mixing the truffles into the chocolate: When the ice cream is set and ready, (or fresh out of the ice cream maker), softly fold in the Truffles and freeze until ready to serve.

Note: Take out your ice cream from the freezer at least 7-8 minutes before serving to allow it to become softer. Home made ice creams tend to be a tad harder than the store bought ones because they lack those ’whatsoever’ ingredients used in the factory to make them that way. Whoooo!

The only thing that can follow this ginger treat is a thick Indian chai!!