Fruit of Magnolia and Basmati Brittle Ice Cream

The thought of making ice cream with my very own ice cream maker never occurred to me until our recent trip to Mexico in April. There, in Oaxaca, we made hoja santa (AKA Mexican Pepperleaf) infused ice cream as part of a cooking class. The ice cream was delicious, as was another ice cream we enjoyed at an upscale restaurant in CDMX: Gorgonzola flavored!

At that time, I mentioned my new desire for homemade ice cream to Katie. Months later, to my surprise and joy, Katie has surprised me with a tabletop ice cream maker! This is my first ice cream. I think it is the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

I learned about the fruit of the magnolia acuminata tree, also called cucumber tree fruit, only recently, from my bosses, the husband-wife owners of Apteka. They too are very keen on foraging, and had it not been for the handful of cucumber tree fruit I saw sitting out at work one day, I would have never thought to have picked it from the forest floor. These fruits grow to half-an-inch in size and resemble cucumbers. They are green when raw and redden as they ripe. 

Cucumber tree fruits are pretty uncommon in multiple senses; They’re not very easy to find (I was extremely lucky to happen on a tree one day that had dropped its fruit the day after a storm), and secondly, for one reason or another, cucumber tree fruits do not appear to be wildly popular or recognized among foragers. The owners themselves started foraging for them relatively recently. 

They suggested that I could turn my bounty into a tincture, and that is what I did. Following their advice, I did what one might do for making nocino with black walnuts; I macerated the cucumber tree fruit in sugar until it released its liquid and the sugar began to ferment. Then, I poured vodka over the sugary fruit to halt the fermentation. The tincture has been infusing on the kitchen counter top for the past month.

I had no immediate plans for the tincture, aside from maybe a future cocktail. Similarly, I had no immediate plans for a batch of basmati brittle that I had made a couple of months before. Basmati brittle is simply my name for basmati rice koji that has been caramelized in the oven. The rice was quite starchy, so that by the time the koji had finished digesting it, its amylase enzymes breaking down the starches into simple sugars, the resultant koji was extremely sweet. Caramelizing the koji in the oven made it even sweeter and taste extremely fruity—think stone-fruits and bananas. The texture is very brittle-like: sticky and crunchy. It has been waiting patiently in my pantry to shine.

A big thank you to Katie for bringing home the ice cream maker, and allowing me to harmonize two very funky ingredients. The cucumber tree fruits taste richly floral and spicy, almost like nutmeg. This pairs well with the stone fruit sweet crunch of the basmati brittle, which Katie mentioned reminded her of rock candy. I’ve written instructions for making the cucumber tree fruit tincture in such a way that it will work with whatever quantity of cucumber tree fruit you’re able to find. You can also replace the cucumber tree fruit with unripe black walnuts. 

For the cucumber tree fruit tincture:

• Cucumber tree fruit
• Sugar, to macerate (I used plain granulated)
• Vodka, to cover
• Time

For the basmati brittle:

• 200g basmati rice koji, caramelized

For the ice cream (yields 1 quart):

• 3/4 cup whole fat milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup cucumber tree fruit tincture
• 1/4 cup basmati brittle
• Nasturtium flowers, to serve

To make the basmati brittle: Follow these instructions, growing the koji on basmati rice instead of buckwheat groat, but do not infuse with garlic olive oil. Simply store in an airtight container in the pantry. Mine has kept for months. If using older basmati brittle like I did, crisp it up in the oven at 210F for an hour and let cool completely before adding to the ice cream.

To make the cucumber tree fruit tincture: Mix roughly equal parts sugar and cucumber tree fruit in a bowl. Essentially, every piece of fruit should be generously coated in sugar, with an additional pinch to cover. Transfer to a lidded jar and let sit, shaking the jar once or twice a day, for 3-4 days, until the fruit has finished releasing all of its liquid and the sugar starts fermenting. Pour vodka over the macerated fruit until covered to halt the fermentation. Let this tincture steep in a cool place away from direct sunlight, forever. 

To make the ice cream: Make the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the tincture in the last 5 minutes of spinning, and the basmati brittle a couple of minutes after that. To get the right firmness, it was necessary for me to transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for several more hours.

To serve, crumble some basmati brittle into a shallow plate or bowl. (Using pre-chilled bowls is never a bad idea.) Dollop a spoonful of ice cream on top of that. Serve with a nasturtium flower to the side. Serve and enjoy immediately.