Spring’s arrival in Brooklyn means longer days, cherry blossoms flowering in the Botanic Garden — and blockbuster, out-the-door lines at Ample Hills Creamery, Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna’s three-year-old artisanal ice cream shop. Warmer weather drives crowds to the Prospect Heights storefront, which may explain why the couple are debuting another, bigger location later this spring in Gowanus — complete with a party space, a roof deck and an industrial-size kitchen that will let them produce pints for retail sale. They have also just published “Ample Hills Creamery: Secrets and Stories from Brooklyn’s Favorite Ice Cream Shop” ($24.95, Stewart, Tabori & Chang) with the writer and illustrator Lauren Kaelin, a longtime employee and creator of the smart Benjameme blog.  More than just a compendium of recipes for Ample Hills’ well-loved, off-the-wall flavors like Salted Crack Caramel and Ooey Gooey Buttercake, the cookbook gives a sense of what it’s like to visit the creamery, with Kaelin’s playful illustrations as well as profiles of the staff, or “Amployees.” It also tells Ample Hills’ story — how Cuscuna, a high school teacher, and Smith, a freelance audiobook producer, screenwriter and self-taught frozen-treat inventor, got to realize their dream. Initially, their goal was to open a scoop shop to showcase Smith’s creations and also, as Cuscuna says, serve as a gathering spot for the local community — a welcoming place with “a culture of yes,” where customers would feel free to sample any and every flavor.  At Ample Hills, these flavors can run from nostalgic evocations of the soda-jerk era (Black Cow Float) to those squarely aimed at inner — and actual — children (Breakfast Trash) to more sophisticated offerings (the bourbon-infused Daddy’s Sundae). “What I love about ice cream, and what I tried to put across in this book,” says Smith, “is that flavor ideas can come from anywhere.”  The cookbook encourages readers to use a hand-cranked ice cream maker at home, rather than an electric model, because the method is better for producing smoother, professional-style ice cream. But as Smith points out, gathering around and taking turns hand-cranking ice cream fosters a sense of community and shared purpose among participants, as well. “And,” he adds, “there’s also the magic of opening it up afterward and seeing that you’ve turned a liquid into a solid.”  Exclusively for T, Ample Hills created a new flavor, T Time, a maple-bourbon ice cream mixed with pieces of pecan-crusted challah French toast. (A breakfast theme was chosen, Smith says, because the owners read The Times over breakfast.)  2 tablespoons organic cane sugar 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons skim milk powder 1 1/3 cups whole milk 3/4 cup grade B maple syrup 2 tablespoons bourbon 2 cups heavy cream 3 egg yolks *1 batch baked pecan-crusted challah French toast  1. Prepare an ice bath in the sink or in a large heatproof bowl. 2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, skim milk powder and milk. 3. Stir with a hand mixer or whisk until smooth. Make sure the skim milk powder is wholly dissolved into the mixture and that no lumps remain (any remaining sugar granules will dissolve over the heat). Stir in the maple syrup, bourbon and heavy cream. 4. Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan and set the pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a rubber spatula to prevent the mixture from sticking on the bottom of the pan and burning, until the mixture registers 110 degrees on the thermometer, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. 5. Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. While whisking, slowly pour ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Continue to whisk slowly until the mixture is of an even color and consistency, then whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture. 6. Return the pan to the stovetop over medium heat and continue cooking the mixture, stirring often, until it registers 165 degrees, about 5 to 10 minutes more. 7. Transfer the pan to the prepared ice bath and let cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When cool, transfer the base to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use. (This is a good time to prepare the baked pecan-crusted challah French toast, below). 8. Once cool, transfer the maple-bourbon ice cream base to an ice cream maker and churn it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 9. Transfer the ice cream to a storage container, folding in the chopped pieces of baked pecan-crusted challah French toast as you do. Serve immediately or, for harder and more scoopable ice cream, place it in the freezer for 8 to 12 hours.  *Baked Pecan-Crusted Challah French Toast  Butter for the baking sheet 5 eggs ¾ cup heavy cream ¾ cup whole milk ½ cup organic cane sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided 6 thin slices challah bread 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup packed dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons golden syrup ¾ cup crushed pecans  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 12-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Add the heavy cream, milk, sugar, 2 teaspoons of the vanilla, and ¼ teaspoon of the cinnamon and whisk to combine. Place each piece of bread into the egg mixture, one at a time, flipping them to coat all sides and allowing as much of the egg mixture to absorb as possible. Place the coated bread slices on the prepared baking sheet, in a single layer, and set aside. 3. In a mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla, remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and the pecans until combined. Spread the mixture evenly over the bread slices. 4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the brown sugar bubbles up and the French toast browns at the edges. 5. If using this for T Time ice cream, allow the French toast to cool completely and then chop it into bite-size pieces. (It may help to freeze the French toast for a couple of hours before chopping it).
On the occasion of the release of its first cookbook, Ample Hills Creamery shares the recipe for its limited-edition “T Time” flavor.