Mascarpone ice cream with winter pears and honey

There are some lovely English pears in the shops just now; a ripe pear is one of my favourite fruits to eat as it is - just a plate and a knife needed.
However, with lots of them about, the price is good, so I use them in cooking as well. I've just made this, which is now headed to the freezer; I got mascarpone cheese reduced to a fraction of its full cost, so was able to indulge in some ice cream making; the girls are starting back into lay so I have a good supply of eggs already. Over all, it turned out not too expensive to make; worth it anyway, it tastes wonderful!

1/2 pint milk
4oz sugar
3 egg yolks
8oz mascarpone cheese
a good dessertspoonful of honey
3 medium ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped small
few drops of real vanilla essence

Heat the milk and 3 -4 drops of vanilla essence to just under boiling; meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light and creamy. Pour on the hot milk, still whisking. Return to the pan and simmer until the custard thickens. Remove from heat, whisk in the mascarpone and honey, then sit in the chopped pears. Cover and leave to cool. When cold, place in freezer until frozen.

When required, give it a decent amount of time to thaw out - it freezes a lot harder than bought ice cream.

There is no need to whisk half way through, as just the yolks of the eggs are used. If you use a whole egg/s in ice cream making, it's the whites that form the crystals which have to be beaten/whisked down.