Root Beer Ice Cream

This was my first foray into ice cream making. Success! Success! This admittedly doesn't speak to my special skills but is more of an indicator that making ice cream is super easy.

I have had a bottle of Zatarain's Root Beer Extract in my pantry for a year or so now. I had read about it in Saveur and bought it to make this delicious sounding Root Beer Cake. I haven't quite got around to baking that yet but The Chef did make his own root beer with it and yum, that was good, especially when we laced it with bourbon.

I was daydreaming about a root beer float the other day and somehow decided that root beer ice cream might be delicious. I started with David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream recipe as a base and then added my flavorings from there. If you like a root beer float, then this is ice cream heaven.

For about a quart of ice cream:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Zatarain's Root Beer Extract
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• Pinch of ground cloves

Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Place a smaller bowl inside and pour the heavy cream into it. Set aside.

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and milk over medium heat until heated but not boiling, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn the heat to low. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Whisk a small amount of the heated milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks and then gradually whisk the yolk mixture into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the back of a spoon.

Pour the custard through a sieve into the heavy cream and whisk together until cooled. Stir in the extract, bourbon and cloves. Place the mixture, covered, into the refrigerator and chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

Pour the cold custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Scoop the ice cream into a quart-sized container and freeze until firm.