Green Licorice Ice-Cream?

Green licorice ice cream?

This spring I started a few herbs from seed, in the hopes of increasing my collection that makes a great cup of hot tea on a cold winter day. One of the success stories was the anise hyssop that I planted. I ended up with half a dozen plants that I scattered throughout the garden beds and they've all grown beautifully.

A few weeks ago, my daughter, Liz, and I decided to make some ice-cream to surprise her dad with, when he got home from working out of town. We were going to settle for a batch of delicious vanilla, so that we could top it with some of our chocolate honey. But then I remembered the anise hyssop in the garden and how much Don loves black licorice. I wondered if I could make licorice ice-cream!

So, while Liz warmed up the cream, I went to the garden and cut a good fistful of leaves from the biggest of my anise hyssop plants. I brought them in, tore them into pieces, and, just as the cream began to boil, took the pot off the heat, tossed in the leaves, put the lid on and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then I strained the leaves from the cream. I knew that the chlorophyll from the leaves would leave me with green ice-cream, but the bigger question was, would it taste anything like black licorice? I dipped my finger in the warm cream and I could definitely taste licorice. But would it stand up to the rest of the ice-cream ingredients and its time in the ice-cream maker?

I'm happy to report that the answer is a resounding "Yes, Yes, YES!". My head tells me that green ice-cream should taste minty, not like licorice, so when Don got home, I made him close his eyes before tasting a spoonful, because I wanted him to respond to the taste, not the color. He LOVED it!

Anise hyssop...it's not just for tea any more!