Monthly micro-batch: candy striped fig ice cream

I'm not much of an ice cream girl. Everyone else on earth, their favorite part of Italy? Gelato. Me. Meh. As a result, the new shared ice cream machine has really only been used for sorbet.

Until today.

All summer, we have beautiful mission figs. But one day, I found candy striped figs. These beauties look like candy, with the bright yellow and green on the outside, and the luscious red, seedy interior. It just made sense to use them for ice cream.

Ingredients (adapted from Fun and Food Blog):

• 2 cups fresh figs, cut into quarters
• 2 T honey
• 1/8 cup sugar (or adjust to taste, I don't like mine so sweet)
• 1/4 C brandy
• 2 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 eggs, beaten

Instructions: 

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, saute the figs until they start to soften. Add the brandy, honey, and sugar and mix well. Continue to cook until the sugar is totally dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

You can either mash the figs up by hand or put them in the blender for a quick whirl (not too long to preserve the chunkiness).

Meanwhile, in a separate medium saucepan over medium high heat, warm up the milk and whipping cream. Stirring frequently with a whisk, bring it to almost boiling, but don't let it boil. Hint from Alton Brown, as soon as you see a bubble hit the surface, take it off the heat. Let this cool to almost room temperature, too.

Whisk the eggs into the milk mixture. Then stir in the fig mixture. Mix well, but note that the fig mixture will likely clump together a bit. Put in the fridge overnight. The next day, process the mixture in an ice cream maker until doubled in size. (I should have remembered to take a picture of this part. I'm still mesmerized watching it and must have been distracted.)  Then allow to sit in the freezer for another hour or so to harden up a bit.