Originally, this started as a Lime Vanilla ice cream. There is no question that vanilla and lime go well together, it’s just a matter of finding the right balance. I had made some Lime Vanilla this past spring and the best part was that when I put some of the ice cream in a little graham cracker pie shell and then added some whipped cream on top, I suddenly had my own version of a little key lime ice cream pie. Very tasty.
However, I hit the Roseland farmer’s market last Friday afternoon and saw mint. Then I thought: lime+vanilla+mint=mojito. These flavors all go well together and combining them in an ice cream would be fun. For those of you who have a ton of mint growing, it’s a great way to use some of it up. Right now, I’m regretting having pulled all of mine up last fall.
My goal in creating this PG-13 version of a mojito and adapting it for ice cream was to not create another peppermint ice cream. I definitely wanted the tartness of the lime to contrast with the vanilla of the ice cream and pull it all together with some mint, but not too much. I also didn’t want to be eating mint leaves in my ice cream. A little zest I can handle, but the mint leaves, no thanks. What I learned is that using mint leaves gives a very different mint taste from the mint extract used for making mint chocolate chip. In the case of this recipe, it was a good thing. My biggest challenge is that I have not had an actual mojito in probably about 12 years, so while I think this little experiment worked pretty well, if any of you have had one recently and want to stop by for a taste and tell me how the ice cream is, that would be just fine with me.
 Mojito Ice Cream**
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
16 mint leaves washed and sliced
zest from two limes, divided
juice from one lime
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
What’s Next:
Place sugar, water, mint juice, and zest from one lime in a medium sized pan. Bring contents to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes for flavors to meld.
Drain liquid mixture through a sieve, keeping liquid and discarding solids. Allow liquid to cool to room temperature.
Combine lime/mint syrup, vanilla, milk, and cream in a large bowl. Mix together.
Pour into the freezer bowl of an ice cream maker.
Process for 20-25 minutes, until almost solid.
Turn machine off, remove plastic center and remove freezer bowl from ice cream maker.
Add zest from the second lime and stir into ice cream.
Place in a separate container and freeze for 24 hours so flavors meld.
Notes From My Experience:
My mother taught me a long time ago to read through a recipe first. This is one of those times. The lime/mint syrup can take a little while to cool, so allow plenty of time for that.
**For an adult version, add 1/3 cup rum (I used Bacardi’s) to the liquid mixture before placing in freezer bowl.
