Matt began making craft ice cream in 2011. Fascinated by the possibilities with herbs from his neighbors, wild berries and flowers from the surrounding area and locally produced chocolates and cheeses. Matt found joy in crafting delicious frozen desserts from raw ingredients. In 2012 Matt began selling his ice creams and sorbets at festivals and events calling it Pure Joy Ice Cream. Knowing he still knew relatively little about the science of the craft, he began studying on his own, learning the science of ice cream and culinary techniques. After 5 years of festivals and events, Matt chose to turn Pure Joy Ice Cream into a community minded, naturally crafted ice cream shop in downtown Siloam Springs, AR, where he has lived since 2001.

Recipe

Garden Mint Chip

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Whole Milk
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 2 cups Heavy Cream
  • 1 Pinch Salt
  • 3 cups Fresh Mint Leaves
  • 1 tsp Dried Lavender Petals
  • 4 Egg yolks
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate (Markham & Fitz Dominican Republic)

Preparation Steps

  1. Warm the milk, sugar, heavy cream and salt in a saucepan.
  2. Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, add the mint leaves and lavender petals, cover, and let it sit for 45 minutes to infuse the mint and lavender.
  3. Remove the mint and lavender with a strainer.
  4. Rewarm the minty milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then pour some of the warm minty milk into the bowl, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
  5. Cook this into a custard, stirring constantly with a spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
  6. Immediately strain the mixture into a bowl and place over an ice bath until cool.
  7. Refrigerate the mixture, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  8. While the ice cream is freezing, chop your favorite chocolate (ours is Markham and Fitz Dominican Republic) into small flakes. When the ice cream in the machine is done freezing, mix in the chocolate and freeze in your freezer until firm.