Wasabi Ice Cream was the inspiration I needed to start this food blog.

During our most recent trip to Japan we stumbled across a dessert mall, I know sounds amazing.  There were different sections depending on what type of dessert you wanted.  I was in heaven.  After walking around trying to decide what we were going to have for dessert I finally decide on ice cream.  You really can’t go wrong with ice cream no matter what country you are in.  They had the standard flavours to try but then I saw wasabi and was instantly intrigued yet slightly scared. We were both pleasantly surprised when the sweet and creaminess of the ice cream kept the wasabi from being too spicy.  I knew at that point I had to make my own wasabi ice cream.

Here we are today 4 months later and I have finally made the wasabi ice cream.  A combination of things delayed me from actually making the ice cream anything from laziness to forgetting to freeze the ice cream bowl to a lack of Wasabi Ice Cream Recipes.  There are plenty of recipes for ice cream but since I wasn’t sure how much spice to put in I didn’t want to over do it.  After looking through many food blogs I finally decided to take my most basic vanilla ice cream recipe from the KitchenAid recipes book that came with the ice cream maker and just start adding wasabi.

I am happy to say I made my wasabi ice cream, but what I learned from it was that you should stop adding wasabi even when you think it isn’t quite enough because boy did it turn out hot.  After only one scoop I had an upset stomach from the heat, thankfully I only made a small batch.  The heat didn’t stop my husband.

I look forward to making this recipe again but trying it with a little less wasabi to find a good balance of sweet and spicy.

Wasabi Ice Cream

Adapted from KitchenAid Recipes

1 1/4 cups half and half

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Wasabi

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the half and half until very hot but not boiling, make sure to stir often.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place egg yolks and sugar in bowl and mix for 30 seconds or until blended and slightly thickened.  Gradually add half and half mixture and mix until blended.  Return half and half mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat until very small bubbles form around the edge and mixture is steamy, make sure to stir constantly.  DO NOT BOIL.

Transfer half and half mixture into large bowl, stir in whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.  When adding wasabi start with a 1/2 tsp and then just increase by 1/2 a tsp until it is the right amount of spice.  Cover and chill thoroughly, atleast 8 hours.

Place chilled mixture in ice cream maker and follow directions for your machine.

Makes 8 servings (1/2 cup per serving)