Lime Cardamom Yogurt

One goal for the 1st year anniversary brunch I hosted was to use Mai's new ramekins.  Mission accomplished. The second goal was to make some kind of ice cream, as that was my very first blog post.  In fact, for a good 3 months I think the only thing on my food blog might have been various ice cream recipes.

Given that most of the other dishes at brunch were heavy and filled with eggs, I wanted to serve something light to offset the food coma everyone would likely be in.


I am inspired by Jeni's Ice Cream out of Columbus, Ohio, so I usually look at her current flavors for what I should make next.  I saw this flavor and knew it was the one.  Lime, win.  Cardamom, win. I love grinding cardamom from the pods.  It is incredibly fragrant and also reminds me of when my mom would make rasamalai at home.

I thought about using key limes, but didn't see them at the store so regular limes it was. Zesting the limes for this ice cream also convinced me to buy a legit micro-plane.  So smooth! So quick!

This recipe was also simple to make.  I am a fan of ice cream without eggs in it because you don't have to constantly watch the pot and you also don't end up with 16 egg whites to use for later.

Lime Cardamom Yogurt, recipe adapted from Jeni's Ice Cream, found here

Makes 1 quart

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, plus 1 tbsp. lime zest
• One 1/4 ounce package of unflavored gelatin
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Pour 2 tbsp. of lime juice into a small bowl.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk the remaining 6 tbsp. of lime juice with 2/3 cups of sugar and the corn syrup. Bring to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime gelatin mixture until it dissolves.

In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt with the zest and cardamom. Stir in the lime juice mixture, then whisk in the cream. Chill mixture in the refrigerator until completely cold.  I waited overnight.  Be warned though - don't let it sit too long or the gelatin will solidify and you will have to bring it to room temperature again before you churn it.  I accidentally left it in my fridge for 2 nights and this is what happened.  

Once it is chilled enough, put it into your ice cream maker and churn away.  I let mine churn for about 40 minutes.  The flavors were well balanced and this was certainly as light and refreshing as I expected it to be!