I was introduced to homemade ice cream during my time as a reporter with the South End News.
During one of his family’s famous Sunday brunches, activist and former politician Mel King showed me his freezer. There were pints of ice cream, all his own flavor experiments, housed in white cardboard containers his wife, Joyce, had bought for the purpose. It was glorious.
A few months later, I bought my own ice cream maker and experimented with recipes: Dark cherry, pomegranate molasses, vanilla, mango and lime sorbet. Some turned out better than others — basil is a lovely flavor, but it takes a gentler hand than mine to deploy effectively.
This recipe was inspired by my youngest son’s love of frozen peas. They have a lovely texture frozen and a natural sweetness that comes through despite the flavor-dampening effect of cold. I’ve based this recipe on a what was called a Philadelphia-style ice cream, which relies solely on milk and cream for the base, rather than a traditional egg custard. For a tangier alternative, one that really complements the sweetness, try replacing half or all of the cream with crème fraiche or sour cream.
Sweet Pea Ice Cream
2 cups frozen peas
¾ cup super-fine sugar
½ cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
Juice of one lemon
Mint leaves to serve
Boil frozen peas until just green — don’t let them go too long or you’ll regret it. Rinse thoroughly with cold water and set aside to drain.
Whisk up the sugar with the milk and cream for about three minutes; you’re aiming for the sugar to completely dissolve in the liquid, leaving you with sweetened creamy milk, not grainy creamy milk.
Pop the cooled peas into the food processor with the lemon juice and whizz until you’ve got a nice, bright green mush. Add your sweetened cream and milk mixture, whizz until mixed well and nicely light green throughout.
Cover with plastic wrap as close to the surface of the mix as you can, to keep air from getting in, and chill in the refrigerator for two to three hours.
Once the mixture is sufficiently chilled, spoon it into your ice cream maker and let it go. You’ll know it’s ready when it looks like ice cream. At this point, you can either spoon it into a tub and freeze for a few hours to firm up even more and allow the flavors time to mellow, or eat it immediately. Serve with a garnish of mint leaves, and don’t forget to post a picture of it on Instagram first. Use the hashtag #sweetpeaicecream.