PearStar Anise Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 pods star anise
• crushed
• 8 ripe pears
• such as Bartlett
• 8 large fresh egg yolks
• at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Combine the cream, milk, salt, and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Add the star anise and immediately remove from the heat.
3. Allow the cream mixture to steep for about 30 minutes.
4. Stem and core the pears, then pulse in the food processor until you get a chunky puree.
5. Strain the puree by pushing through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids with a spatula or the bottom of a ladle.
6. You should end up with about 2 cups of liquid.
7. Discard the solids.
8. Put the pear liquid in a saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
9. Add the pear syrup to the cream mixture and bring to a boil over high heat.
10. While that mixture heats, place the egg yolks in a large heatproof bowl.
11. Once the cream mixture has reached a rapid boil, remove from the heat and pour approximately 1 cup of the liquid over the yolks, whisking furiously.
12. After the cream mixture is fully incorporated and the yolks are tempered, pour in the remaining cream mixture, whisking constantly as you do.
13. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean container.
14. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
15. Refrigerate until completely cold, then pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturers directions.