(Based on Black Pepper Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (I’ve used this for years. It always sells out first at the church ice cream social)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 large egg yolks
Warm the milk, sugar, peppercorns, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Cover, remove from heat and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
Rewarm the peppercorn-infused mixture. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer, pressing the peppercorns gently to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the peppercorns and stir the custard into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.