Was looking for something to go with a chocolate cake. Peppermint stick ice cream sounded like a good option, and I found a recipe for it in the book Ices, by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir. It involves making a very simple base and adding crushed peppermint candy. The results were excellent, particularly given how easy it is to make. The texture was smooth and creamy, even after a couple of days in the freezer. I'll be trying this with whatever additions I can think of.
Easy No-cook Philadelphia Vanilla Ice Cream
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 pinch salt
Split the vanilla bean and add heat slowly with the milk and sugar, stirring, until just below the boiling point. Allow to cool and chill. Remove the bean and scrape it into the milk. Refrigerate. When ready to churn, add the sweetened condensed milk, cream, and salt. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze as per instructions.
(Note: For peppermint stick ice cream, crush about 1/4 lb of peppermint candy. Make ice cream base as above, omitting the vanilla and pour into ice cream freezer. When ice cream is the consistency of softly whipped cream, quickly spoon it into a freezer container. Add the crushed candy and mix well. Place in freezer until hard - about 1 hour.)