Wide open to the sun.”
When you’re feeling discouraged, how do you brighten your mood? This is a question I’d like the answer to because I am in a funk. I feel like a child who heard the ice cream truck coming and gathered her shiny quarters so she could enjoy a treat. She imagined herself sitting in the sunlight, licking the sides of an ice cream sandwich as the cold cream melted, then munching on the soft chocolate wafer. It was going to be great. But as luck would have it, the truck pulled away just as she reached the curb - and though she ran after it, though she gave it her best shot, all she could do was watch it motor down the road.
Honey-Rose Ice Cream with Pomegranate Syrup
(View larger image here)
Normally times like this are times for baking, but since it’s Passover I decided to make ice cream instead. Honey-Rose ice cream with pomegranate syrup seemed like a good choice, and for a moment I contemplated the possible profundity of making a dessert with milk and honey during a Jewish holiday. After all, Israel is often described as “the land of milk and honey” and the pomegranate has important religious symbolism in Judaism. But then I shook my head and focused on the present, where honey, cream and sweet comfort food were the matter at hand. I added homemade candied rose petals to the mix for sparkle and an extra bit of flavor.
My mother has often told me how, as a child growing up in a relatively poor neighborhood, she always looked forward to those rare occasions when the bee keeping farmer down the road would share pieces of honeycomb with the local children. I too have fond memories of honey. I remember a picnic set in a sun drenched valley, where I dipped apple slices in the golden syrup before snapping off a bite. I remember going ‘honey tasting’ with my husband, and laughing as we scooped spoonfuls of spun blueberry, orange blossom and wild flower honey onto bite-sized pieces of pound cake. Altogether, honey makes me feel warm, and happy - maybe that’s how things will start to turn around.
Recipes after the jump.
Honey-Rose Ice Cream
Tools: sauce pan, strainer, ice cream maker
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mild honey
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used whole milk)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1/4 cup candied rose petals (I made mine using 2 organic roses, according to the recipe found here.)
- Optional topping: Pomegranate syrup. (Instructions for making it can be found here.)
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the honey with the egg yolks until thickened and pale yellow. Set aside.
Add the rosewater to your milk, bring the mixture to a simmer in a heavy medium-sized sauce pan. Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot liquid into the honey mixture. Briefly rinse your saucepan and rub dry with paper towel or cloth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot honey custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, about five minutes, then stir in the cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold (about 5 hours) or overnight.
Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add 1/4 cup candied rose petals to the machine when the cream is semi frozen. Allow the machine to mix in the flowers.When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours.
Variation: Instead of rose water you can use orange blossom water. Instead of candied rose petals you can also use candied violet petals.
This recipe was adapted from: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More by Bruce Weinstein. The ice cream was made with a Cuisinart ICE-20 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, and Sorbet Maker.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 by Ariela and is filed under Desserts, Ice Cream & Sorbets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
29 Responses for "The Comfort of Honey"
Hang in there Ari, I’m sure things will works out, you have to believe that especially in times like this when things appear so hard. Hugs! Hugs! I hope you get to meet your family soon and share with them this delicious honey-rose ice cream.
I too send you my best Ari,
Hang in there. A little bit of sunshine is just around the corner. I hope everything works out soon. Enjoy some ice cream, it sounds and looks delicious.
Take care,
Poor thing, I can relate. When it rains it pours but then some how, one day you wake up, and everything gets better one by one. I hope you start to feel better soon and this dessert is definitely one that would lift my spirits too!
Keep smiling, Ari. Things always get better, and your honey rose ice cream is a very positive step forward!
Sorry to hear things are not going well. I hope tomorrow will bring good news your way and things will get better. Hang in there.
Oh, Ari….sorry everything isn’t perfect for you. Sometimes life just sucks. But, nice to see you can find some pleasure in the simple things — FOOD! I’ll be sending good and happy vibes — have they reached you yet?
Anyone who can create such a sweet and lovely dessert is obviously filled with good energy, and it will come back up to the surface any minute. Hang in, Ari.
What a wonderful mood lifter
The ice cream with pomegrante syrup looks delicious. Now if only I could actually reach in with my spoon and eat some…. that would be perfect.
I really enjoyed your intro even though you were describing being in a funk…and I’m glad you found a way around it.
Hope you have more luck soon. When you are feeling down always remember you have good health and that is something to celebrate.
Ice cream is the first step to happiness as far as I’m concerned. Things will start to turn around before you know it.
That ice cream really is stunning! Oh that looks good.
I just have to think this ice cream could lift your spirts until the real thing comes along. and good things will come along, just hang in there …take care with ice cream.
For some reason the first few years of marriage are always the hardest. I guess its because you’re still settling into who and what you are going to be. I didn’t see my parents for over two years after I was first married, but there was no help for it. We had no money and other things that were going to affect the rest of our lives had to take priority. Hang in there! Things really do come together eventually and its great!
I know how hard it can be to be far away from your family, it can be really trying, so make use of Skype.telephone as much as you can. In the meantime, I love anything with rose (I’m sort of obsessed with rose petal jam), and I love ice cream, so this looks great!
I hope things gets better for you soon Ari. I know that baking therapy for me too when times are tough.
Your ice cream is just perfect and the flavor combination sounds incredible.
I hope that things perk up for you soon.
Just the name rose honey conjures up such comforting warm (sweet!) thoughts, and of course it looks great!
KJxx
Everyone, thank you for your kind of support. I’m feeling a lot better today. For some reason everything just seemed particularly heavy yesterday, but writing about it, making my ice cream and reading your comments boosted my spirits. Many hugs! I’ll have another post up in the next day or two, this one with forbidden (because it’s passover) but super delicious cookies.
i’m sorry to hear you’re down for a bit. hopefully things will look brighter in the future, i know it’s hard for you and your family.
it’s time for ice cream, eh? now the weather is warmer…
Oh that image of you chasing down the ice cream truck was so sad! But this ice cream looks wonderful and the recipe looks like I could manage it. Sorry that you were feeling so down, but I guess it happens to us all sometimes. From your last comment, it looks like you’re feeling a little better. So take care and be well! Your blog always cheers me up! : )
Hang in there da’ling. Easter is a particularly trying time for me so I feel your pain. Calling my mom today almost broght me to tears. They were all in the kitchen getting Easter ready and I was here staring at the big blue sea. But, then I saw your ice cream and my world got a little sweeter.
I just tell myself that tomorow is a new day. I hope you feel better
I know what it’s like to go through a time like this - everything just seems to be going wrong and you feel a little helpless and frustrated. But things do turn around, and sometimes those bad things actually are for the better. This dessert looks delicious and I love honey ice cream so the pomegrante must be an amazing touch. Hope your days ahead are bright.
I’ll be thinking of you and wishing you happier times ahead.
I hope things look up for you soon! You deserve it.
Glad you are feeling better already, maybe the holidays made you so homesick, I have been away from my parents on important occasions, like on their 50th wedding anniversary we were living in the US… not easy… hang in there. Love,
I think that was definitely it Cris. I always wish I could share the things I make with my family (they’ve never *really* tasted my cooking actually, since the last time they saw me I wasn’t much into foodie things) but that wish becomes a source of sadness, sometimes, during the holidays. You should have seen me over the Christmas/Chanukah break, when I couldn’t even be with my husband!
I hope you are doing better by now Ariela (I just love your name!) and your choice of ice cream for this kind of situation was the best choice. You should never underestimate the power of ice cream. It can bring a lot of good things to people and that’s what I hope it will bring for you.
Looks lovely, Ariela! I’ll have to keep this one in the files for next year’s Passover!
I’m so sorry things are going well for you right now. This sort of stuff will pass. That’s cold comfort when you’re in the thick of it, but you’ll manage. Hang in there, hon.
I hope you’re feeling better. Thank goodness for the comfort of food!