It was a hot weekend, and David wanted to make ice cream. I didn’t tell him that after we make the ice cream we would have to freeze it and not be able to eat it right away until it was too late. But he wasn’t too mad at me, because we conceived a pretty awesome ice cream flavor: chocolate hazelnut banana. We used an existing chocolate ice cream recipe and added our awesome twist!
We bought some hazelnuts from a little market on 1st Avenue; I didn’t want to splurge on the already roasted kind, so I bought the raw ones and roasted and peeled them myself. I’m so frugal!
Feel free to use your favorite chocolate ice cream recipe and add a chopped banana some hazelnuts in during the last few minutes of freezing. Our recipe isn’t too chocolatey. It’s a good companion for the other flavors in here, because nothing overpowers another flavor or texture. Or take a shortcut and defrost your favorite ice cream a bit, add your add-ins, and re-freeze. We won’t tell anyone!
Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Ice Cream loosely adapted from Delicious Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- heaping 1/2 cup roasted, peeled hazelnuts
- 1 banana, chopped
Directions:
- Heat milk in a large saucepan. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape seeds into the milk. Add whole bean into the milk and heat. Remove from heat right before boiling and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Take the vanilla bean out of the milk and add chocolate in pieces, heating and stirring constantly until smooth.
- Whisk the egg yolks and vanilla in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixture until pale and the mixture leaves a trail when whisk is lifted. Slowly add the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
- Strain the mixture into a clean saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly, or until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Do not let it boil!
- Remove custard from heat and let col for at least 1 hour, occasionally stirring to prevent a skin from forming on top.
- Whip the cream until it holds its shape and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cold custard, then churn the mixture in your ice cream maker according to instructions. Add nuts and banana during the last 5 minutes of freezing.
- Put the ice cream in a covered container and freeze in the freezer for at least two hours.
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