Chocolate-Baileys Ice Cream with Spiced Pecans for #bloggersscreamforicecream

“Christina,” said Mr. McMc after taking the first bite of the dessert I’d lovingly served up on Christmas Day. “Just how much Baileys in this ice cream?” “Oh, just 250ml,”  I said nonchalantly. “Why, is that a problem?” It turns out that I had put half a pint of rich, creamy booze in my frozen treat. As you do. Well, after all, it *was* Christmas.

I’ll level with you. This is not the type of ice cream which you should think about making and consuming if you’re planning on dieting next year. It contains two different types of chocolate, crunchy smokey-sweet pecans coated in a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and smoked paprika, and enough Baileys to fell a horse.  Rich, boozy and decadent, it’s a fairly ridiculous concoction devised after one too many sherries in the run-up to the festive season. It’s also my entry for December’s booze-themed Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge – a delicious last gasp of Christmas indulgence.

In some ways, this ice cream is the perfect emblem of my year of excess. After all, 2012 was the year I got married, turned 30, visited Berlin and New York and somehow only managed to lose my shit about all of this three times along the way (a perfect example of this being the Monday before my wedding where I ran laps around the outside of my office in a vain attempt to calm myself down.) While I wouldn’t change any of these experiences for the world, there’s a part of me that would like my 2013 to be slightly more sedate. I’m a firm believer in New Year’s Resolutions (although most of them tend to be broken by 6th January), and my ones for the next year mainly involve building upon the happiness and wonderful experiences which I was so lucky to have last year. If 2013 is even half as great as 2012, I’ll be a very happy person indeed.

But for now, enough self indulgence. There’s still ten hours left of 2012, and there’s baths to be had and booze to drink. For now, I wish you all a very happy New Year. Here’s to 2013 and whatever excitement and new experiences it holds.

CHOCOLATE-BAILEYS ICE CREAM WITH SPICED PECANS

For the Chocolate-Baileys ice cream (based loosely on David Lebovitz’s recipe for Chocolate ice cream in The Perfect Scoop)

You will need:

• 500ml double cream
• 150g high quality dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
• 150g high quality milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks
• 250ml Baileys (If you’re not a raging boozehound like me, feel free to reduce this to 200ml)
• 150g granulated white sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the spiced pecans (recipe based loosely on this one from Smitten Kitchen)

• 20g Muscovado sugar
• 60g white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 150g pecans
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

Make It!

1. First, place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer and chill for 24 hours. (I know this sounds obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve forgotten to do this and wept for all the delicious ice cream I could have made).
2. While your bowl is chilling, make your custard. Warm 250ml of the double cream and the chopped dark chocolate together in a medium saucepan, whisking thoroughly to ensure that the two are thoroughly blended together.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped milk chocolate, stirring rapidly until the mixture turns smooth and glossy. Then stir in the remaining 250ml of cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a large sieve on top of the bowl.
3. Warm the Baileys, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks until they turn light and fluffy. Slowly pour the warm Baileys mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
4. Stir the mixture constantly over a medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom while you stir so the mixture doesn’t stick. The custard is ready once it has thickened and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the sieve and stir it into the chocolate mixture until it turns smooth, then stir in the vanilla.  Cover the bowl with a piece of greaseproof paper and leave it to cool for half an hour – this will prevent a skin forming. Them, pop it in the fridge overnight until it’s ready to churn.
5. To make the spiced pecans: While your custard is chilling, make your spiced pecans. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees/gas mark 6. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add the pecans, and stir to coat evenly.
6. Sprinkle your nuts with the sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet which has been covered with baking paper. Bake your pecans for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the oven, and separate nuts as they cool. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.
7. Once you’re ready to make your ice cream, add the spiced pecans to the chocolate-baileys custard (the custard will be quite thick), and churn it according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
8. Serve either on its own, or with a simple cake – this Almond & Cinnamon Cake from BBC Food complements it nicely.

Coconut-Choc-Chip ice cream for #bloggersscreamforicecream

Ah Summer. A time for picnics, legitimate excuses to drink outdoors during daylight hours, and terrifying the citizens of Liverpool by getting my milk-bottle-white legs out in public. It’s also the time of year where my office turns into a microwave. Since Summer decided to make an appearance here, I’ve been spending my weekdays hugging my desk fan and daydreaming about coke floats, milkshakes and pretty much anything involving huge scoops of frozen treats. On Tuesday, I would have happily paid someone to come to my office brandishing an ice cold chocolate malt topped with peanut butter ice cream. Alas, it wasn’t to be. And whilst I attempted to scratch my itch by having a Toblerone Milkshake for lunch on Friday, it just didn’t hit that sweet spot. “Bugger this for a game of soldiers” I thought to myself. “If Liverpool won’t provide me with decent ice cream, I’ll just have to make some myself”.

Kavey, the lady behind Kavey Eats holds a monthly blogger competition called Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream. This month’s theme is ‘chocolate’.  Well, I don’t exactly need any encouragement to create some chocolate ice cream, but I thought it would be a bit dull to just present you with a simple cocoa creation. I’ve been cooking with a lot of coconut milk recently and thought it might make a good base for a frozen custard. And what better accompaniments are there to a coconut milk custard than a shitload of dessicated coconut and chocolate chips?

I’ll admit – at first I thought this ice cream would never see the light of day. I (cleverly) managed to scramble my first custard necessitating a trip to ASDA which saw a gust of wind blowing up my billowy Summer skirt and accidentally revealing my underwear to the neighbours. (Classy, eh?) Then I cracked out the ice cream maker only to discover that I’d forgotten that the churning drum needs to be frozen for 24 hours beforehand –  a process which required some serious reorganisation of my freezer. By the time I finally got around to making it, I was cursing ever having the idea in the first place. Then I tasted it, and it all became worthwhile.

This ice cream is a delight – soft and easy to scoop straight from the freezer, sweet with a little bit of bitterness from the dark chocolate chips. A bit like a posh frozen Bounty. If you wanted to be all sophisticated, you could add some cocoa nibs. Or, if you feel like gilding this particular lily, I also imagine that it would work pretty well in this spiked milkshake.  All I know at the moment is that there’s currently half a tub of this in my freezer, and it’s all I can think about.  

COCONUT-CHOC-CHIP ICE CREAM 

You will need:

• 400ml full fat coconut milk
• 200ml single cream
• 100g caster sugar
• 6 (free range) egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 100g dessicated coconut
• 100g dark chocolate chips

Make It!

1. First, place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer and chill for 24 hours. (I know this sounds obvious, but if I don’t tell you, you’ll no doubt forget).
2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Heat the coconut milk, cream and vanilla essence until almost boiling (little bubbles should be forming along the sides). Slowly pour the cream into the egg yolks, whisking all the time.
3. Pour the custard into a clean bowl, and place this over a pan of boiling water (make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, otherwise your custard will scramble). Heat the custard gently until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Cover the bowl with a piece of greaseproof paper, pushing it into the mixture (this will prevent it developing a skin). Leave the custard to cool for half an hour, then place it in the fridge for another half hour.
5. Add the dessicated coconut to the custard, pour into an ice cream maker and churn for 15 minutes. Then add the dark chocolate chips and churn for another fifteen minutes.
6. Serve either by itself, or in waffle cones.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Ice cream is one of those things which has gotten me through many of the major disappointments of my life. When I was five years old, and had been badly stung by a jellyfish whilst swimming in the sea on Miami Beach, my Bubbie held my hand and promised me that if I was a good girl, and didn’t cry, she’d buy me the world’s biggest sundae afterwards. I have a vivid memory of my Dad waving a dripping ice cream cone in my face in an attempt to coax me out from underneath a table when I refused to get my BCG injections. Back in 2004, after a very bitter break-up with one of my ex boyfriends, I’d frequently sit on top of Greenwich Point moping and eating Mint Cornettos. To put it bluntly, when I’m feeling sad, I tend to each for the Ben & Jerry’s.

So, cut to last Sunday. I’ve spent my Summer swathed in a fug of minor annoyances; a situation not helped by the fact that recently, Liverpool has been experiencing almost monsoon like weather conditions. I am (unsurprisingly) hungover, having spent the previous day overindulging at the Liverpool Whisky Festival (which led to me waking up fully clothed on my bed at 1am, cursing the person who invented Lagavulin).  I have just experienced a terrifying trip to ASDA which was playing the theme to Twin Peaks whilst I shuddered in the milk aisle, and was full of screaming children. I look at the ice cream maker currently taking up space in my living room and decide there’s only one thing for it. It’s time for me to drown my sorrows in frozen emulsified fat.

Last month, the nice people at Cuisinart were kind enough to send me one of their Ice Cream Deluxe makers which, I’m ashamed to say, sat in the corner of my living room for far longer than it should have. I was too scared to open the box, and allow it to wreak havoc on my (already larger than it should be) waistline. But, me being me, I’d been contemplating all of the delicious things I could make it with it. Should I combine chocolate with salted caramel to create a salty-sweet treat? Or perhaps I should swirl it with peanut butter? Maybe vanilla studded with popping candy would work? After some deliberation, I finally settled upon a Rocky Road ice cream, studded with large chunks of marshmallow and digestive biscuit.

The chocolate base for this ice cream comes from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop – which is the bible for all things sweet and frozen. Rich, decadent and almost overwhelmingly chocolatey, it’s the perfect accompliment to the sweet squidgeyness of the marshmallows and the crunch of the digestive biscuits. Because of its richness, you don’t need a lot of it – I found that a ramekin sized portion was just enough to satisfy my cravings.

This ice cream didn’t cure my hangover, or cure any of my problems, but it did make me feel a little bit happier and a little bit more content with my lot.  If you use the best chocolate you can afford when you make this, you’re sure to adore it too.

ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM

Inspired (yet again) by David Lebovitz

You will need:

• 500ml double cream
• 3 tablespoons high quality cocoa powder (I used Green & Blacks)
• 150g high quality milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks
• 240ml full fat milk
• 150g granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 Digestive biscuits
• A large handful of mini marshmallows

Make It:

1. First, bash your digestives – you can do this by sticking them in a carrier bag and whacking the living daylights out of them with a rolling pin. I suggest doing this when you are a) very pissed off and b) there’s no one else around. It’s rather cathartic.
2. Warm 250ml of the double cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped milk chocolate, stirring rapidly until the mixture turns smooth and glossy. Then stir in the remaining 250ml of cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a large sieve on top of the bowl.
3. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly with a hand mixer, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
4. Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (if you have a candy thermometer, it’s ready when it reaches 170°F). Pour the custard through the sieve and stir it into the chocolate mixture until it turns smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Pop it in the fridge for an hour or two until it’s chilled.
5. Once the custard is ready, freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  (As a guide, I churned my mixture for half an hour). Add the marshmallows and the bashed digestives right towards the end of the churning process – I didn’t do this, and kept staring into the machine terrified that the motor was going to burn out due to an excess of synthetic fluffy goodness. Once the churning has stopped,  pop it in the freezer for two hours until firm.
6. Serve with extra marshmallows and (if you have any) hot fudge sauce.