This comes from Linda and Fred Griffith's book "Garlic, Garlic, Garlic."

Caramelized Garlic French Ice Cream with Lavender
Serves 8-10

Creme Fraiche:
1 cup heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
3 tablespoons buttermilk

3 cups milk
2 3-inch branches fresh lavender
3 plump garlic cloves, smashed, plus 5 large heads roasted garlic (see
below), at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise
1 stick cinnamon
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Lavender flowers or candied violets for garnish
Caramel sauce, milk-chocolate shavings or raspberries (optional)

The night before, make creme fraiche: In a small bowl, blend together heavy
cream and buttermilk. Cover loosely and let stand at roomtemperature
overnight. The next morning, blend well, cover and set aside in refrigerator.
In a small saucepan, combine milk, lavender, smashed garlic cloves, vanilla
bean and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for
30 minutes. While milk mixture cools,squeeze roasted garlic from skins. Chop
until finely minced, then set aside. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl
of an electric mixer fitted with a whip (if mixing by hand, use a large-bulbed
whisk). Beat at high speed until yolks are pale and form a ribbon when dropped
from beater. Beat in nutmeg. Remove vanilla bean from milk and scrape seeds
back into pot. Discard bean, lavender branches, smashed garlic cloves and
cinnamon stick.
With motor running, gradually pour milk into egg and sugar mixture. Then pour
into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Fill a large mixing bowl with icecubes and set
aside. Cook egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until it forms a
very thick custard that will thickly coat a wooden spoon (about 180 F on a
candy thermometer). Add roasted garlic and blend thoroughly. Remove custard
from heat and place on bed of ice. Stir in cremee fraiche. Keep stirring
until mixture cools, about 5 minutes. Chill in refrigerator, about 45 minutes.
Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Spoon
into a plastic container and store in freezer until serving time.
Serve ice cream garnished with lavender flowers or candied violets. You
might also serve with some caramel sauce, milk-chocolate shavings or
raspberries.

Oven-Roasting Garlic
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Slice off the top of a head of garlic. Gently
remove outer papery skin from sides of head. Place head in a small
ovenproof dish. Spoon 1 tablespoon of oil over top of garlic, then drizzle
1 teaspoon of water over it. Cover tightly with foil. Bake garlic for
1 1/4 hours. Uncover, baste with any remaining pan juices, and bake
uncovered until golden, about 15 minutes more.

--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia Hill at .
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/