On my way home from the store I pass the large Victorian on the corner. Most days I flick my eyes to the front porch to see if V is sitting there comfortably in her Adirondack chair. Often, I miss her, but today, March 16 I see her in one of her flowing day dresses, glasses no longer perched on her head as she is engulfed in some piece of literature. I slow the car, roll down the window to shout my “hello there”. She sees my white VW steed come to a full stop in the middle of the road and jumps up from her chair!

“I was just going to call you! You are coming to St. Paddy’s, right?”

For the last 3 years of the pandemic, we’ve had the tradition of wearing our green and dining together to celebrate the day of the Irish. First times on the front porch, then last year we moved inside. We did Corned Beef 3 ways with another fellow neighbor, and I chose a version from Julie Rosso & Sheila Lukins “Silver Palate Cookbook”. This year the invitation came in the form of V would take care of everything, the Corned Beef, the potatoes/cabbage/carrots, the soda bread, setting the table, etc. as long as I brought (drum roll please) the Ice Cream (nudge nudge) because she got a lead on how a Guinness version could be done and maybe I could bring my ice cream doula hands to the process and create it. And so, I did.

But first back to the store!

Shopping List: Vanilla Bean, Whole Milk, Heavy Cream, Guinness Stout, Molasses, Eggs, Granulated Sugar, Vanilla Extract. Kosher Salt.

First you take 1/2 of the vanilla bean, split it down the middle and then use a paring knife to clean out the seeds and pulp into a medium sized saucepan.

Pour in 1 cup of Whole Milk and 1 cup of Heavy cream to cover the vanilla seeds in the pan and plop the vanilla pod in the liquid as well. Bring liquid to a low boil over medium heat.

Once (almost) boiling, take mixture off the heat, cover and let seep, letting the vanilla flavor infuse with the warmed cream. Give it about 30 minutes.

While the cream is infusing, whisk 2/3 cup of Guinness Stout with 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp. of Molasses into a smaller saucepan. Bring that to a boil and then remove from the heat.

In a big bowl drop in 3 Egg Yolks, add 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar and 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract (I am loving this Vanilla that I got from Mexico, oh it is so good!) whisk all together.

Take a Tablespoon and dip it into the cream mixture and then pour into the egg mixture. In total I combined about 3 Tablespoon with the egg mixture. Stir well. Then put in a 1/4 cup of the cream into the egg. Mix continuously and completely. Next you are slowly ready to pour the rest of the cream mixture in with the egg/sugar/vanilla. Once all combined pour it all back into the original saucepan.

Next to the Beer mixture and combine with the cream & egg mixtures in the pan.

Cook the custard over medium heat for about 6–8 minutes, stir it frequently, I like to sprinkle a little salt in the process (just pinches mind you) and watch how it starts to thicken and coat the back of your wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Pour entire warmed custard mixture through a sieve into a metal bowl and put in the refrigerator to chill.

You want it to chill thoroughly. Then remove it from the fridge and it is time to pour it into your ice cream maker. I use Cuisinart’s, she works for me. It takes about 15–20 minutes; I sprinkle a little salt along the way as well (not too much, it is just to add a depth to the flavor, but you do not want it to taste “salty”). Once it all starts to be thicker, take the mixture and scrap it out of the chilled bowl and put into a quart container of your choice. Then into the freezer it goes until it is time let it soften and eat.

Or in my case take to St. Patrick Day Dinner.

We served it with Stout Cake and my Guinness Ice Cream was a massive hit!! Enjoy!