Lavender Honey & Thyme Ice Cream Recipe

Homemade vanilla ice cream with honey and mint

If you’re heading to one of our villas in Provence, not only will you enjoy the stunning accommodation with friends and family – but also the delicious regional food to go with it. We already highlighted the best 11 foodie experiences to seek out, but with the help of one of our partners in Provence, we have prepared a delightful delicacy that you can recreate yourself at home.

The recipe today comes from the Scaramouche, one of the best ice-cream parlours in France. The perennially popular Glaces Scaramouche makes all its ice creams locally and has an outdoor seating area where you can sample its wares of different flavours.

Here’s how you make a delicious dessert with the Lavender Honey & Thyme Ice Cream recipe:

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
⅓ cup sugar
2½ cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
⅜ounce (1 small handful) fresh thyme, left on the stems
⅜ounce (1 small handful) fresh thyme, left on the stems
⅓ cup lavender honey

Making the Ice Cream:

In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until a light lemon yellow. Set aside.
Prepare an ice bath—a large mixing bowl full of ice cubes will do. Set aside.
Pour milk and cream into a medium saucepan. Add the thyme. Heat over a low flame, until the milk is just about to boil. Shut the heat, quickly fish out the thyme, and put aside for later use. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg yolks, whisking quickly and continuously to combine.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Add the honey and cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until the cream coats the back of a spoon, 5-10 minutes.
Immediately transfer the custard to a mixing bowl, add the thyme back in, and cool briefly in the ice bath, whisking for a few minutes until the custard has cooled a bit.
Leave the thyme in the custard and store in an airtight container in the fridge. If possible, leave for 24 hours, so the flavor has time to develop.
Remove the branches of thyme and, using a fine mesh strainer, filter out any stray thyme leaves that are floating in the custard. Freeze in your home ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Honey is an anti-freeze, so don’t worry if the ice cream remains relatively soft, even when thoroughly churned.
Transfer to your freezer to harden for 1-2 hours before serving. Keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one week.