Recipe: Rum Raisin Ice Cream (ice cream maker)

RUM RAISIN ICE CREAM

"This was probably the first flavor of commercially produced premium ice cream I ever tasted. Now I make it at home, using the best quality rum and, just for fun, a combination of dark and golden raisins."

3/4 cup raisins, preferably half dark and half golden (about 6 ounces)
About 3/4 cup dark rum
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the raisins with enough rum to cover. Bring to a simmer over low heat. (Watch carefully. If the alcohol gets too hot, it will ignite.) Remove from the heat and let cool. Strain the rum into a heatproof glass measuring cup and set aside. Reserve the raisins.

In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and half-and-half. Gradually whisk in the sugar to blend. Whisk in the vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.

Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. When the ice cream is at the soft-serve stage, add 1/3 cup of the rum and the raisins and process 1 minute longer. (Discard any remaining rum or reserve for another use.) Eat at once or transfer to a covered container and freeze up to 8 hours.

Makes about 1 1/2quarts
Source: The Best Ice Cream Maker Cookbook Ever by Peggy Fallon