Gingerbread with Rum Ice Cream and Poached Pears
We used pears in this ice cream’wich, but many other fruits would work well, too, such as apples, figs, or peaches. Because the fruit is poached, it won’t harden in the same way that raw fruit does when it is frozen. And not to worry if you do not like rum: you can simply leave it out of the ice cream recipe, yielding a simple and tasty vanilla ice cream.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 ice cream sandwiches
Ingredients
For the poached pears
For the gingerbread
For the rum ice cream
Preparation
Step 1
To make the poached pears, in a saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, water, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, peperoncino, and cinnamon stick, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the pears, bring it back to a simmer, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Remove from the heat and cool in the liquid. Unless used right away, transfer the pears and liquid to a container. (Keeps in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.)
Step 2
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Step 3
To make the gingerbread, bring the beer, coffee, and molasses to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and whisk in the baking soda. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and place the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water. Stir until mixture is cool and set aside.
Step 4
In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, 3 tablespoons of the sugar in the raw, and fresh ginger. Whisk in the egg. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. In three parts, alternate adding the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients to the brown sugar mixture, whisking to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar in the raw on top. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the loaf is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not open the oven frequently during baking; wait until the gingerbread has cooked for 40 minutes, then turn the pan 90 degrees. Remove from the oven, let rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
Step 5
To make the ice cream, split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds from each side into the measured sugar. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream, and half of the vanilla sugar. Whisk together and bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. While the milk mixture is heating, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining vanilla sugar. Temper the eggs into the boiling milk mixture by removing the saucepan from the heat and pouring half of it over the yolks. Whisk well and return the yolk mixture to the saucepan. Whisk in the salt. In a metal bowl over ice, chill the ice cream base thoroughly. Strain the base through a fine-mesh sieve. Whisk the rum into the ice cream base. Process the base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a covered container and place in the freezer for about 2 hours, until it is firm.
Step 6
When ready to assemble, let the ice cream defrost at room temperature for 15 minutes. Evenly spread the softened ice cream over 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices of gingerbread, covering them all the way to the edge. (The ice cream must be soft enough to avoid ripping the bread.) Top the ice cream with the pear slices and season with pepper. Close the sandwiches with a matching 4 slices of gingerbread and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.
