How to make delicious mint ice cream, according to a golf-club chef

Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetites.

***

I scream, you scream, but when it comes down to it, not many of us make ice cream at home.

It’s not as complicated as you might think.

Maria Cardenas is the pastry chef at Santa Lucia Preserve, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., where she churns mint ice cream as a refreshing foil against the summer heat.

We’ve shared Cardenas’s recipe below, along with her tips for doing home-made ice cream right.

1. Invest in a Machine

Ice cream can be made without an ice cream maker. Several methods will do the trick. But a machine, Cardenas says, is worth the investment for the quality, ease, and consistency of the results. Ice cream makers are like cars. You can spend a fortune on them. But for around $100, you can pick up a reputable-brand machine that will get you nicely from point A to point B.

2. Cook the Base

Though not all ice cream recipes require it, Cardenas recommends that you cook the base. The process is akin to making homemade custard, where you heat egg yolks, cream and sugar together, creating the foundation for a rich and creamy final result.

3. Keep it Low and Slow

Just like your backswing. Resist the urge to cook the base quickly. If you crank the heat too high, the ingredients won’t thicken. “Patience is an important part of the process,” Cardenas says. Keep the heat low, and the cooking slow.

4. Get the Timing Right


Stop churning too soon, and the result will be thin and icy. But the same is true if you churn too long. Most recipes call for churning anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. But dialing in the timing might take some trial and error. A reasonable rule of thumb is to take the ice cream out when it is roughly the consistency of soft serve. At that point, transfer it to the freezer, where it will thicken up.

Maria’s Mint Ice Cream

(Cardenas prefers to measure in grams for accuracy. Approximations in cups have been added in parentheses)

Heat:
1 bunch fresh mint
4 cups heavy cream
4 cups whole milk

Temper into hot liquid:
365 grams of sugar = 1 and 7/8 cup
400 grams of large egg yolks = approximately 26 eggs

Cook mixture (custard) stirring with spoon until it gets smooth like an anglaise.

Strain the custard into a bowl. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Pour custard into an ice cream maker.

Serve with a drizzle of tempered chocolate.

Voilà!

Golf.com

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.