Grapenut-Raisin Ice Cream
This Grapenut-Raisin ice cream recipe takes a New England ice cream favorite and makes it even more delicious with the addition of plump, sweet raisins.
By Yankee Magazine|Jul 23 2021|
Grapenut Raisin Ice Cream
Photo Credit: Aimee TuckerThis Grapenut-Raisin ice cream recipe is so versatile, that to make a delicious French vanilla ice cream, simply eliminate the Grapenuts, the raisins, and the extra 3/4 cup milk.
Yield
About 5 cups
Total Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 1 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups light cream
Yolks of 5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup Grapenuts
Instructions
In a small bowl, pour 3/4 cup milk over raisins. Stir well, then cover and refrigerate.
In a saucepan, bring cream and remaining milk to a simmer, then remove from heat. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks with sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the hot cream-milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking as you go, then transfer it all back into the pot to create a loose custard. Heat the custard over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 175° on an instant-read thermometer (this is the point at which it will thicken noticeably). Remove from heat, add salt and vanilla extract, and pour through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in Grapenuts, then place in refrigerator to chill 6 to 12 hours.
Once mixture has finished chilling, it should register between 35° and 40° on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the now-plumped raisins from the refrigerator and stir them into the custard, discarding any extra milk. Pour mixture into ice-cream maker, leaving 3/4 inch at the top to allow for expansion, and prepare according to freezer instructions.
Notes
Allow 6 to 12 hours to chill.
When I was growing up in Salem, MA we would occasionally go out for ice cream cones. My fave was grape nut but it never had raisins. Now I just use vanilla ice cream and stir in some softened grape-nuts and its pretty close to what I remember.
Exactly what you said. I fell in love with Friendls’s GrapeNut ice-cream when I lived in Maine. Now I use Bluebell Natural Vinalla Bean ice cream (it doesn’t have the heavy egg flavor like normal vanilla which tends to override the grapenut flavor), stir the ice-cream just till soft, then stir in the grapenut mixture (the milk will have absorbed the grape-nut flavor so put it in too) whch have been softened in milk with some Mexican Vanilla and a little sugar), then refreeze. As long as the ice-cream was not allowed to melt when stirring it will re-freeze to normal consistency. The sofentened grape nuts will become slightly crunchy when frozen to a just right amount of crunch. Experiment with how much grapenuts to add to get the flavor and consistency you like. Also, will be even better if using cream instead of milk but give it more time to soften the grape nuts.
Brown’s in York, Maine, located near The Nubble served awesome Grapenut Ice Cream WITHOUT raisins…Sadly Brown’s is now gone..There is now a pale imitator nearby..