Candy Cane Closeup

Since I’ve been married, the Christmas season has started right after Thanksgiving. Immediately after, in fact. Our holiday party is on the first Saturday in December, which means we shift into holiday overdrive the morning after turkey day.

We get the tree (still a fresh tree, for good or ill) and get out all the Christmas trappings—ornaments, decorations, glassware, etc—on that last Friday in November. Then we spend the rest of the weekend trying to put up the outdoor lights and evergreen garlands. By Sunday night, maybe, the boughs of the tree have dropped enough for my wife to start decorating the tree. (This year the whole tree dropped, but that’s another story.)

I have long since given up doing anything more than helping with the star because I “don’t know how to do it.” Before the kids came along that meant having a glass or two of wine and enjoying tree trimming as a spectator sport. Now the kids help hang ornaments and I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do.

Once the tree is up, however, party anxiety begins.

We’ve been doing the party for a while now, so you’d think it would run like clockwork, but during the holidays, nothing seems to work like that. At least the menu has been established for a few years and consists of vegetarian chili, caesar salad and cornbread for dinner. Festive beverages include a red and white sangria recipe that we borrowed from our friend the chef (Hi Monique). And as an hors d’oeuvres, I cure a side of salmon (two this year) into gravlax and serve it on bagel chips with cream cheese, onions, capers.

It all started as a holiday meal I used to host before I got married. It was a chance for me to try out new recipes, roast a leg of lamb and enjoy a few bottles of wine with friends. Then when my wife entered the scene, we suddenly had a lot more people to invite to the dinner party and it morphed into a much bigger deal, complete with extra non-sugar-plum-related anxiety.

One year, when it was still just dinner, I  became so frustrated trying to make my own pasta that I ran out of my building and threw a huge wad of pasta dough over the roof tops of the neighboring apartments. (That is, I hope the dough made it over the roof tops.) Another year, my wife feigned illness during the party prep so I would take over the vacuuming for her. (“It’s your stupid party!”)

Yet for all the nervous energy and manic preparations, the party has never been anything less than a terrific success.

(Sigh.)

Well, folks, the party is this weekend, which means the Christmas season has officially begun.

And what better way to kick off the season than with some candy cane ice cream? Fresh out of the ice cream maker it was wonderful. Everyone in the family thought so.

We’ll all think the party was wonderful too, but not until Sunday. For now, it’s back to work.

Candy Cane Ice Cream
(about 1½ quarts)
1 ½ cup milk
¾ cup sugar
2 T flour
A few grains salt
2 eggs or 3 yolks (pasteurized, if possible, see note)
1 ½ cup cream
¼ t mint extract

½ cup crushed candy canes (4 medium-sized canes)

1. Heat milk to 180-190ºF with sugar, flour and salt, stirring until thick, cover for 10 minutes.
2. Beat eggs and add ½ cup of mixture while beating, then add eggs to mixture.

HEALTH NOTE:     Since you’re dealing with eggs here, you need to take care when cooking the custard. Too much cooking and the custard gets lumpy, too little and you risk salmonella.  Another alternative is to use pasteurized eggs.

1. Heat the mixture for one minute over medium heat, then cool with plastic wrap or wax paper pressed onto the top of the mixture to keep it from developing a skin. Cool for several hours or overnight.
2. As the custard is cooling, put the candy canes in a bowl or on a butcher’s block and crusth them into small piece.
3. When the custard has cooled, add the cream, mint extract and candy canes and freeze the mixture in an ice cream freezer for about 35 minutes.
4. Put the now frozen ice cream into the freezer for a couple of hours to give it a chance to firm up.

NOTE:     When freezing ice cream, you need to use an ice cream freezer to ensure that a certain amount of air is mixed into the frozen cream. This gives it a lighter, less icy consistency. When freezing sorbet, you may also freeze it in a popsicle mold, a bowl or on a sheet pan. Be sure to stir the mixture occasionally to limit the size of the ice particles. Larger chunks of ice make for granita, miniscule chunks make for a nice smooth sorbet (an ice cream freezer is ideal).

Photo Credit: “Candy Cane Closeup,” composed by the author. 

Can you think of any additional Christmas flavors of ice cream/sorbet/sherbet? Candy cane was the first thing that came to mind and now I’ve already run out of ideas. Tangerine sorbet could be fun. What else? Let me know in a comment.