One of the major advantages of adulthood is ice cream for breakfast . . . any day of the week, any week of the year.  Saturday is a particularly good morning for ice cream with its typically relaxed pace.  And the good people across the big pond at Ice Cream Ireland were looking for recipe testers earlier this week for a forthcoming ice cream recipe book.  Given my affection for all things Emerald Isle-related (my middle name is Seamus, after all), combined with my affection for ice cream, I decided to chip in to the effort and make their recipe for cardamom honey ice cream.

I began the process Thursday evening by putting the bowl of my Krups ice cream maker in the freezer.  (It looks like the model I own may have been discontinued, but there's another similar Krups model on sale right now for $29.99.)  My ice cream maker is essentially a double-walled bowl with liquid between the walls, with a mixing paddle driven by a small electric motor that mounts on top of the bowl.  You need to put the bowl in the freezer for about 24 hours to freeze the liquid between the walls.

Also Thursday evening, I made the custard for the ice cream (steps 1 through 6 of the recipe linked above).  I adhered completely to the recipe's ingredient list, but changed-up some of the technique a bit.  Rather than simmering the milk and cooking the custard in a saucepan directly on the heat source, I did this cooking in a homemade double boiler—a small stainless steel mixing bowl seated on/in the medium-sized saucepan with water simmering over low heat in the saucepan but not touching the bottom of the mixing bowl.  I use this technique out of an abundance of caution.  The recipe properly warns of the possibility of overheating the custard, which will scramble the eggs in the mix.  It's easy to give yourself one added layer of protection against this catastrophe by using a double boiler.

After making the custard Thursday evening, I put it in the refrigerator to allow the cold extraction of the cardamom goodness to do its thing.  Though the recipe didn't mention it, I placed plastic wrap on the surface of the custard to prevent any film layer from developing.  Friday evening I whipped the cream, folded in the custard and put it into the ice cream maker for freezing, then stored it in a tupperware-like container in the freezer for the night.

The recipe turned out perfectly—I couldn't resist eating it for breakfast this morning.  The cardamom flavor is intense . . . there's no missing it . . . and this is how it should be, in my view.  But if you're cooking for a spice-eating-lightweight, you could always dial back the cardamom a bit in the recipe.  To be clear, it's not "hot" spicy; it's just powerfully-cardamom-y spicy.  And, while I'm thinking about it, the recipe doesn't specify whether pre-ground or freshly-ground cardamom is intended to be used—the latter being more potent than the former.  I used freshly ground cardamom.  (While I'm on the subject of freshly-ground spices, I might as well throw in a little tip.  Like many people, I grind my spices in a coffee grinder that's dedicated to the task of grinding spices.  One easy, water-free way to clean it between uses is to grind some white rice in it and then wipe it clean.  The rice is relatively flavor-neutral and the spice residue seems to cling to it.)

The recipe notes that it was inspired by Moroccan cuisine and it would undoubtedly make a great follow-up to a tagine or other Moroccan main course.  But cardamom is also popularly used in South Asian cuisine.  I may pair the ice cream with some Indian food tonight or tomorrow night.  But for today's breakfast, I paired it with coffee and it has proven to be the perfect way to start my day.