You can swap out the cardamom in this recipe — adapted from David Lebovitz’s recipe for fresh ginger ice cream — if you like. But the subtle cardamom flavor makes this unusual ice cream taste like a frozen version of rice pudding. It’s delicious served over warm Stone Fruit Crisp.

Steps

1. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and cardamom pods almost to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for 1 hour.
2. Add the sugar and 1 cup of the cream, and heat the mixture until warm. Add the salt.
3. Put the 4 egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and lightly whisk them together. Slowly pour a bit of the milk-cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking steadily until evenly blended. Scrape the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until you have a custard that’s just starting to thicken and coats the spoon.
4. Put the remaining 1 cup cream into a medium bowl. Place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and pour the cooked custard through the sieve into the bowl, mashing the cardamom pods against the mesh to extract as much flavor as possible. Whisk until the custard is evenly incorporated into the cream.
5. Chill the custard mixture for several hours or overnight, then churn in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze for an hour or so until firm, then serve.