It’s no secret that I’m a honey lover. I love it so much that I am always trying to convince others to incorporate it into their diet. There are so many health benefits associated with it, and to be honest, it really isn’t difficult to switch it out for sugar.
One of my favorite recipes to make that so many people enjoy are the ice creams that I make using my semifreddo recipe. Since I still had some of that beautiful honey from Honey Ridge Farms, I wanted to show you how easy and versatile the recipe is to make a version of the ice cream using their honey. Delicious walnuts are delicately toasted and tossed in layers with the ice cream and the toffee and then all swirled around together. Once you taste it you will find it very reminiscent of something very Middle Eastern — this reminded me so much of an ice cream version of baklava — simply heaven.
Cinnamon Honey Walnut Semifreddo With Honey Toffee Swirls
6 yolks
4-5 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups heavy cream, whipped unsweetened
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-2 cups hand chopped roasted walnuts, small pieces
NOTE: If using the honey toffee, I would use a lesser amount of honey (4 tablespoons) because you don’t want it overly sweet. If you are not using the honey toffee, then 5 tablespoons offers the perfect level of sweetness. If you need a little more, then feel free to add.
If you are going to use the honey toffee, make sure to make it ahead of time and let it cool completely before making the ice cream. Also roast the walnuts well ahead of time and let them cool. When ready to make the ice cream, first place the 2 cups of heavy cream (unsweetened) in the bowl of your stand mixer and whip to soft peaks. Once it has whipped, remove the whipped cream from the mixer bowl and place it in another bowl and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Next, place the egg yolks in the mixer bowl (no need to rinse it out), add the honey and whisk it all together. Place this bowl over a small pot with a little hot water (essentially creating a double boiler) and whisk the egg yolks until they are very warm (but not hot) to the touch. Once they are very warm, remove them from the double boiler and attach the bowl to the mixer. Use the whisk attachment and beat this mixture until it has cooled and is pale and fluffy. Remove from the mixer and fold in the refrigerated whipped cream, cinnamon and hand chopped roasted walnuts.
Place half of this mixture into your storage bowl and then swirl on half of the honey toffee. Add the remaining ice cream and top with the remaining honey toffee. Use a spoon to gently toss this all together, then cover with plastic (or lid) and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Honey Toffee
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon corn syrup
¾ cup heavy cream
Add the honey and the corn syrup to a small stock pot and place over a moderate to high flame. The corn syrup is added to prevent crystallization because raw honey has a lot of impurities.
After a few minutes, the honey will begin to bubble up and will begin to change color to more of a light amber color. Once this happens, remove the pot from the heat and use a wooden spoon to stir in ¼ cup of heavy cream.
Return this to the heat and continue to cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes until the color deepens. Remove from the heat when the mixture has thickened.
Since we are going to add this to ice cream, the toffee should not be very firm. If it is too firm, then it will get very hard when it is swirled into the ice cream in the freezer. Once it has thickened, allow it to cool and stir in the remaining cream.
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