Baklava Ice Cream

This Greek-inspired ice cream brings together the flavors and textures we love in baklava: honey, cinnamon, toasted pistachios and almonds, and crisp buttered phyllo. Keeping the phyllo and warm honey-lemon sauce separate from the frozen ice cream preserves their texture and lets everyone finish a scoop to taste.

Ingredients

Ice Cream Base

• 450 g whole milk
• 250 g heavy cream
• 80 g granulated sugar, divided
• 35 g honey
• 5 large egg yolks
• ¼ tsp (about 0.6 g) ground cinnamon
• 1 g table salt

Toasted Nuts

• 50 g shelled pistachios
• 30 g sliced or slivered almonds

Crisp Phyllo Clusters

• 4 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
• 35 g unsalted butter, melted
• 15 g granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of table salt

Warm Honey-Lemon Sauce

• 45 g honey
• 20 g granulated sugar
• 25 g water
• 1 tsp (5 g) fresh lemon juice
• 1 wide strip lemon zest
• pinch of table salt

Directions

Prepare the Ice Cream Base

Combine the milk, cream, honey, cinnamon, salt, and 40 g of the sugar in a saucepan. Heat until steaming but not boiling.

Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 40 g sugar. Gradually whisk some of the hot dairy mixture into the yolks, then return everything to the saucepan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 170–175°F and lightly coats a spatula. Strain into a clean container, chill over an ice bath, cover, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.

Prepare the Nuts

Heat the oven to 325°F. Toast the pistachios and almonds for 7–9 minutes, until fragrant and lightly colored. Cool completely, then chop into small pieces. Reserve a little for garnishing and refrigerate or freeze the remainder until needed.

Prepare the Phyllo Clusters

Heat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Brush the phyllo sheets lightly with melted butter, sprinkling each with a little cinnamon sugar. Tear or loosely crumple the sheets into bite-size clusters on the prepared pan.

Bake for 9–13 minutes, until deeply golden and crisp. Cool completely and store airtight at room temperature.

Churn and Finish

Churn the cold custard in the Breville SmartScoop using a medium-firm ice cream setting. Add the chopped pistachios and almonds during the final minute of churning.

Transfer to a freezer container and freeze for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Prepare the Honey-Lemon Sauce

Combine the honey, sugar, water, lemon juice, zest, and salt in a small saucepan. Simmer gently for 2–3 minutes, then remove the lemon zest.

Keep the sauce lightly warm, approximately 100–110°F.

Serve

Let the ice cream temper at room temperature for 8–10 minutes. Place a scoop in each serving dish and drizzle with 1–2 tsp of the warm honey-lemon sauce. Top with crisp phyllo clusters and the reserved toasted nuts, then serve immediately.

Notes

Variations

• Plain Honey: Omit the honey-lemon sauce and finish each scoop with a very light drizzle of plain honey.
• Ghost Pepper Hot Honey: Drizzle ¼–½ tsp room-temperature Ghost Pepper Hot Honey over each scoop. The cold ice cream initially softens the heat, which builds as the ice cream melts.
• No Sauce: Serve the ice cream with only the crisp phyllo and toasted nuts.

Serving

• The frozen ice cream contains no lemon. Serving the honey-lemon sauce separately allows guests who dislike lemon ice cream to avoid it entirely.
• Keep the phyllo out of the frozen container and add it immediately before serving so it remains crisp.
• Makes approximately 1 quart, or 8 servings.