Ask anyone: my favorite ice cream has always been mint chocolate chip. In fact, as a child I loved mint chocolate chip so much that I developed a deep hatred against pistachio ice cream... because in my excitement, I would think the green pistachio ice cream was my beloved mint ice cream, and then would be horribly disappointed. To this day, I've never even tasted pistachio ice cream because just looking at it makes me feel cheated and wronged.*

So naturally, in the Ice Cream Machine Craze of 2008, I knew I wanted to try my hand at fresh mint ice cream. My weird food rules kept getting in the way, though: with all the fresh fruit around in the summer, I was up to my eyes in fruit-based frozen treats: mango sorbet, lemon-strawberry ice cream, peach ice cream, peach sorbita, fig ice cream, strawberry sorbet, plum-raspberry sorbet... and the errant vanilla fro-yo. Though mint was in season too, I have a hard time getting past fresh fruit. It wasn't until fall, when I realized I might be losing my chance, that I went for the mint.

What a fool I am.

Fresh mint ice cream is light years from the chemical confection I grew up loving, which I realize now tastes more like toothpaste than actual mint. Because, you see, mint is an herb. A plant. Something that grows in the ground. Something that artificial peppermint extract and green food coloring are not. Magical mint ice cream - show here with a fudgy swirl - tastes clear and fresh and herbal. Despite being a custard-based ice cream, this mint ice cream tastes amazingly clean, with not a hint of heaviness. It's also missing that distinctive kryptonite green glow... but the flavor more than makes up for it.

To think I waited all summer.

Magical Mint Ice Cream with Fudge Swirl
from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

For the ice cream:
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream, divided
Pinch of salt
2 cups mint leaves, any variety**, crushed in your hands***
5 egg yolks

For the fudge swirl:****
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons unsweetend cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt in a medium saucepan. Do not boil. Add the mint leaves and stir until immersed. Cover, remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour. Once steeped, strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the mint leaves to extract as much liquid as possible. Return the now greenish-yellow milk mixture to the sauce pan. Discard the leaves, which will now be quite gross-looking.

Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and set the strainer on top. Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Rewarm the mint-infused milk over medium heat. Once warm, whisk 1/2 cup of mint-milk into the yolks to temper them, then gently pour the yolk-milk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk, stirring constantly. Continue to stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the custard thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Do not let it boil. Pour the custard through the strainer into the waiting cream, and stir to combine. Chill the mixture for several hours or overnight.

Once the ice cream is in the fridge, prepare the fudge swirl, which also needs to chill before use. Whistk together the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, bringing the mixture to a low boil. Boil gently for one minute, then remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla. Cool in refrigerator before using.

Once both the ice cream custard and the fudge ripple have chilled for several hours (overnight is best), it's time to assemble! Process the ice cream in your ice cream maker until it is the consistency of soft serve. For me, that takes about 20-25 minutes. Coat the bottom of a freezer-safe storage container with fudge swirl. Layer the ice cream into the container between generous spoonfuls of chocolate sauce. Freeze for about an hour before serving to firm up.

Delicious on Oreos, as pictured here.

*I know, I know. Pistachios are (supposedly) delicious. But I can't get over it.
**One time, I used a combination of peppermint and spearmint. Another, I used all spearmint. Both times, my mint was from Goose Creek Gardens, who also recommended trying a variety called chocolate mint. Next summer, I will obey.
***I take the mojito approach to this leaf-based ice cream, bruising the mint leaves slightly before steeping to release even more delicious minty oils.
****I get two batches worth from this recipe. It keeps very well in the fridge.