Frozen Desserts: Part 6

If you read my last post or gave the recipe a try, I'm going to give you another recipe for your ice cream maker. It's a bit different: dark chocolate and chile ice cream from Rick Bayless. This is a fantastic flavor combination that's great to make at home, as you probably won't see it in your local ice cream shop. Don't be put off by the chile. It's not spicy and it lends a warm note to the rich chocolaty ice cream.

Pasilla negro chile and chopped bittersweet chocolate

Dark Chocolate Chile Ice Cream

1 large pasilla negro chile
4 ounces bittersweet (preferably 60-70%) chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 cups half and half
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Place a small skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the top off the chile with a pair of kitchen shears, then cut the side and remove the seeds. Using tongs, toast the chile by pressing the it into the skillet until very fragrant, about 10 seconds per side. Place the chile into a small saucepan and pour in the half and half. Heat over medium until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges (do not boil). Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a double boiler:  fill a medium saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Choose a large heat-proof bowl that can easily be nestled into the saucepan with out touching the water. Place the egg yolks into this bowl and set aside on the counter.

Place the chopped chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl. Transfer the chile-half and half mixture to a blender. Blend until smooth. (Take out the center of the blender lid to allow heat to escape after you've turned it on). Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve back into the saucepan and heat until steaming (do not boil). Rinse the strainer as you will need it later. Once it's hot, pour over the chocolate and let stand 1 minute. Then whisk until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate is melted.

Whisk the sugar into the egg yolks until smooth. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Reduce the boiling water to a simmer and place the bowl of egg-chocolate mixture on top. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 5 minutes. You will know it is thick enough when you can dip the spoon into the mixture, run your finger along the back and the line stays. This will be about 180 degrees on an instant read thermometer if you have one.

Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Place the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in heavy cream, vanilla and espresso. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately if you prefer a soft texture, otherwise freeze in air-tight container to allow it to firm up a bit.

Makes approximately 1 quart.

Note: Store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to three days. 

Frozen Desserts: Part 5

It's time to break out your ice cream maker. I normally don't like to give you recipes that require special equipment, but I think homemade ice cream is the exception. Like so many things made from scratch it is so good if you can make it yourself. Plus ice cream makers are pretty affordable, so if you are an ice cream aficionado like me, you'll be glad you got one. 

I'm going to start by giving you my recipe for the most basic of homemade ice creams: vanilla. If you read my blog regularly you know I'm a chocolate person. I would never order vanilla at an ice cream shop. But homemade vanilla I love. Mostly because it takes something like a piece of apple pie and makes it that much better. Or chocolate cake. Or cookies. You get the point. 

After trying many recipes and having them come out too icy, I've finally come up with this one. You'll notice that I stir in the heavy cream at the end. I've always done this with my blueberry ice cream and the texture of that one is great. So, one day I decided to do the same thing with the vanilla and it also came out with a great texture.  

Vanilla

Once you've mastered the vanilla you can easily add other ingredients to the vanilla base to create other flavors. A syrupy fruit compote can be stirred in at the end. You can add peppermint extract and crushed peppermint candies. And of course you can add chocolate.  So, as a bonus I give you a technique I learned from my Williams Sonoma Ice Cream book where you melt chocolate with a bit of vegetable oil and add it to the ice cream machine in the last minutes of churning it. You end up with lovely slivers of chocolate throughout the ice cream. 

Chocolate Chip

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks

1. Place the whole milk in medium saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape seeds with a small knife into the saucepan. Add bean pod to pan. Place over medium heat and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan, about 5 minutes (do not let it boil). Turn off heat.

2. Meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and half and half in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the vanilla bean-milk mixture into the yolk mixture until well blended. Pour the yolk mixture into the milk in the saucepan. Place over medium heat, and stir slowly and constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is thickened, about 4 -6 minutes. Do not boil. You will know it is thick enough when you can dip the spoon into the mixture, run your finger along the back and the line stays. This will be about 180 degrees on an instant read thermometer if you have one.

3. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Place inside a larger bowl filled with ice water until cooled to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Once cool, whisk in heavy cream. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on surface of cream to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.

4. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately if you prefer a soft texture, otherwise freeze in air-tight container to allow it to firm up a bit.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1 batch vanilla ice cream, prepared through step 3.
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

About 1 hour before you are ready to churn the ice cream, melt the chocolate and vegetable oil together in small microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds. Set aside to cool completely.

Process the vanilla ice cream in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Once the ice cream is thick like soft serve ice cream, keep the machine running and drizzle the chocolate mixture over with a large spoon. As soon as the chocolate hits the ice cream it will start to freeze and form silvers of chocolate in the ice cream. Serve immediately if you prefer a soft texture, otherwise freeze in air-tight container to allow it to firm up a bit.

Each batch makes approximately 1 quart of ice cream.

Note: Store in the freezer in an air-tight container for up to three days.