Frozen Rhubarb and Custard

-you know, ice cream, except it is a custard. Stop looking at me that way, you know what I mean.

So hey, this is how I deal with stress, and surplus rhubarb.

You Will Need:

4-5 large stalks rhubarb, diced
1/4 cup vanilla sugar (regular is OK if you don't have it)

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract (the cheap stuff is OK for baking, but if you can swing decent extract, or have a vanilla bean to infuse the cream, use it)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Toss rhubarb and sugar together with a couple tablespoons of water (no more) and place in a baking pan. Bake until rhubarb is soft-about 20 minutes. Cool. Either force through a sieve by hand with a wooden spoon and plenty of patience, or use a food mill. Don't blend or put through a food processor-that will ruin it. Chill until needed.

For the ice cream:

heat cream and milk until steaming. meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until light. Slowly whisk in the hot milk in a very thin stream, then return it to the pan and cook until it reaches 170 degrees F. Strain into a bowl, stir in vanilla and chill in an ice bath. When cool, set in fridge at least an hour.

In a metal tray in the freezer (an 8x8 works well and won't use too much space) place the custard and chill 30 minutes. With a fork, break up any hardening around the edges and return to freezer. Do this every 30 minutes until it is nearly set. Stir in the rhubarb puree, and freeze again until done. At this point you can mash it smooth with a fork, or quickly blitz it in a chilled metal bowl with a hand mixer (chill the beaters as well). Transfer to a freezer container and let firm before serving.