“The British Empire was created as a by-product of generations of desperate Englishmen roaming the world in search of a decent meal.” - Bill Marsano

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Milk Chocolate Malt Ice Cream

I received a Cuisinart ice cream maker for Christmas, and I opened it up yesterday to make one of my favorite ice creams, from Simon Hopkinson's excellent 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories.' I love this cookbook.

The night before, freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker. The next day, whisk 6 egg yolks with 2 oz malted milk powder until thick (a Kitchenaid-style stand mixer is very useful here). Meanwhile, scald (bring to just below a boil) a mixture of 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup milk in a saucepan. Remove from heat and drizzle slowly into the egg mixture while whisking (this is called 'tempering'). Return this mixture to the saucepan and heat gently until it starts to thicken (be careful - you do not want it to boil or the yolks will scramble!), then remove from heat and whisk in 7 oz milk chocolate (broken into squares) until melted. Cool, stir in 1.5 tbsp Bailey's and churn in the ice cream maker until it starts to solidify. Transfer to freezer for a few hours before eating.

This is the best chocolate ice cream I have eaten. I use Cadbury's Dairy Milk for the chocolate - not the best chocolate in the world but good, and with a distinct flavor, and I have found it works better here than more expensive brands like Callebaut.

This recipe is one of the easiest ice cream recipes to make, because the chocolate thickens the 'batter', meaning that you don't have to spend so long trying to thicken it with the yolks. I find that in the process of trying to thicken egg yolk-cream mixtures I often take them too far and scramble the egg, at which point I have to start over...

Two cups of Half and half can be substituted for the cream and milk mixture, if you like.

1 comment:

  1. Ben, this is truly the best ice cream I have ever had, not just chocolate. Puts Ben and Jerry's to shame....

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