"Best ice cream I've ever had." Straight from my husband's mouth.
Needless to say, after purchasing an ice cream maker earlier this spring, I've felt inspired. This was the first batch I made and am proud to say I came up with the whole idea myself!
I used a trustworthy vanilla ice cream base from A Year in Chocolate by Jacques Torres, but changed up a few things and doubled the recipe (why not double your yield when going to all that effort??).
Here 'tis.
Bourbon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Butter Roasted Pecans
Base
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
14 large egg yolks
2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp bourbon (or more...)
Place 1/4 cup and 1 tbsp of EACH of the sugars in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks until well combined.
Prepare an ice bath by putting ice cubes and a little water in a large bowl and nesting another bowl inside it.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the rest of the sugar, milk, cream, and honey. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a heatproof rubber spatula. Once boiling, immediately remove from he heat.
Slowly pour about a third of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. (You may need someone to help you with this.) Pour the tempered egg mixture into the hot mixture, stirring constantly. Place over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, or until it gets to 182 F on an instant read thermometer, or until it coats the back of a metal spoon. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla and bourbon.
Pour the custard into the bowl nested inside the bowl with ice water. Let cool, stirring frequently. Once thoroughly chilled in the refrigerator (I recommend leaving it in there all night), the ice cream base is ready to meet its (ice cream) maker.
Add-ins
10 oz of your favorite chocolate (I used 5 oz dark Valrhona and 5 oz milk Valrhona)
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp butter
pinch of kosher salt
While the base is cooling, you can make the Butter Roasted Pecans. Preheat oven to 350 F. Toss pecans with butter and salt and spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant and nicely toasted.
When you are ready to freeze your ice cream, melt the chocolate in a double boiler over the stove or in segments in the microwave. Freeze the base in your ice cream maker according to its directions. Five minutes before it is supposed to be done, gradually drizzle in the melted chocolate. Next, gradually sprinkle in the pecans. Add these while it is still churning. In case that wasn't obvious.
Once finished, place it a freezer-proof, sealed container and freeze until it reaches your desired consistency!
I'll post next about my Peanut Butter and Honey Ice Cream that hearkens back to a childhood sandwich I actually never had!
