Chestnut Ice Cream

Photo: Blanche Yih

Ingredients

1 quart milk

7/8 cup heavy cream

10 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups sugar

8 ounces chestnut puree

1 ounce rum

10 sweet roasted chestnuts or Marron glacé, chopped into bite size pieces

Preparation

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Add the cream. Bring to boil again. (Do not cook after the liquid has reached the boil.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is a very pale lemon yellow, and a ribbon forms when the whisk is lifted from the mixture.

Pour the hot milk and cream into the eggs, and mix thoroughly. Add chestnut puree and rum.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Over low heat, stir it with a wooden spoon until it thickens slightly and coats the spoon - about 5 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. (To be certain the mixture is ready: With a finger draw a thin path through the mixture on the surface of the spoon; the mixture is ready when the path will not close up.)

Pass through a fine sieve. Refrigerate until cold, then churn with ice cream maker.

Stir in the chopped chestnuts when ice cream has completed churning.