Olivia Piepmeier

Sage Ice Cream

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Monday, October 3, 2022
Category: dessert
A watercolor illustration of a bunch of sage coming from the left side of the paper. It's a little abstract, but you can see the vein-y nature of sage from different lighting - shade vs. the light coming in from behind. There's a purple rectangle on the bottom right with "sage" written in light green cursive.

inspired by Little Moss Restaurant, Food52, and Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, page 28 


Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream (plus a little more)
  • 2 dozen fresh sage leaves (or just A LOT)
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • a scant 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan over medium, add cream and sage leaves.
  2. Using a muddler or a wooden spoon, smash up the leaves now and then as the cream heats.
  3. Do not boil! This will take some attention but it’s relatively quick. When mixture starts to steam, remove from heat and stir in maple syrup.
  4. Let it cool completely at room temperature.
  5. Chill in fridge for several hours or overnight (I would err on the longer side, personally).
  6. Use a sieve to separate the sage from the cream into a big liquid measuring cup.
  7. Add enough more heavy cream to equal 2.25 cups.
  8. Add the milk to the measuring cup.
  9. In a big bowl, add the eggs one at a time and whisk vigorously to aerate.
  10. Add the sugar and whisk for about a minute.
  11. Add the dairy into the egg mixture.
  12. Add the vanilla.
  13. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
  14. Put in ice cream maker for 20 mins.
  15. At this point, it’s the consistency of soft serve. Eat it now or quickly put it in a freezer-friendly container for at least a few hours to get your typical hard ice cream texture.

Thoughts

I don’t remember exactly when it happened, most meals at Little Moss left Trey and I in awe (they are worth booking a trip around, IMHO). I do remember taking myself to dinner one night and asking the server if they happened to have any more sage ice cream stored away. We commiserated on how amazing it was and how the chef really needs to make it again sometime. This was likely 2018. Sage ice cream has haunted me since. It was so unexpected, a little weird, but delightful!

I tried to make it once with some ground sage just thrown into my usual vanilla recipe, but it was gross. After getting a bunch of sage two weeks in a row from the CSA, I knew I needed to try it again. Did I not search the internet for this before? Food52’s recipe made sense to me, so I combined it with my typical ice cream base. When I realized what I made, I couldn’t contain myself! As hard as it is for me to take compliments sometimes, other times I’m beside myself with pride. I did it! And it was good! And people other than just Trey and I liked it (thanks, Carrie & Dan)! So that means something, right?

If you find yourself with a lot of fresh sage, just try it and see what happens.