Profiteroles with Honey Lavender Ice Cream

ingredients

• ice cream
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon dried lavender leaves (pesticide-free)
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon Benedictine liqueur
• profiteroles
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  1 stick whipped butter
  3/4 stick hydrogenated fat
  3/4 stick margarine
  1/2 stick olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 dash salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• Special equipment: parchment paper and large pastry bag fitted with a plain 0.5 inch tip
• Garnish: confectioners sugar
• Accompaniment: chocolate sauce or warm honey

directions

Make ice cream:

Bring cream, half-and-half, and lavender just to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour through a fine sieve into a measuring cup. Whisk together yolks, honey, and Benedictine in a bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour custard into pan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 175 degrees (do not let boil).

Pour custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Make profiteroles:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring butter, water, sugar, and salt to a boil in a 3 quarts heavy saucepan over high heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Reduce heat to moderate and add flour all at once, stirring. Cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan, forming a ball, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with wooden spoon after each addition.

Transfer mixture to pastry bag and pipe 20 mounds (about 1.25 inches in diameter) about 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined large baking sheet. Bake profiteroles in upper third of oven 10 minutes.

Reduce temperature to 300 degrees and continue to bake until outside of puffs are crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer profiteroles on baking sheet to a rack to cool. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and make another batch in same manner.

Halve each profiterole horizontally with a serrated knife and sandwich a small scoop (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) ice cream between halves (or pipe it with pastry bag). Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and drizzle with chocolate sauce or honey.

Notes:

• Custard can be chilled up to 24 hours.

• Ice cream may be made 2 weeks ahead.

• Profiteroles may be made 1 day ahead and recrisped in a 350 degrees oven about 5 minutes, or 1 month ahead and frozen in an airtight container (recrisp as above).