Sunday, January 22, 2012

Homemade Ice Cream - Malt & Nutella

I bought an ice cream maker last month with the intention of making some alcohol-laced ice cream to share with my friends.  I have made attempts on Kahlua ice cream and  Bailey's ice cream, but they both came out to be really yummy milkshakes.  I think it was the recipe that came with the ice cream machine.  It only contained milk, cream, sugar and of course, I added a shot of flavored liquor.  It doesn't help that alcohol doesn't freeze well.
On my third attempt, I was making ice cream for a work pot luck.  I decided to use a recipe from one of my cookbooks.  The recipe called for 2 eggs for a custard base.  It was a little more work, but with the eggs as a binding agent, the ice cream froze beautifully into soft serve in 20 minutes! After packing it into a plastic container, it turned into 'non soft serve' ice cream in the freezer the next day.
 I adapted the recipe slightly, reducing the sugar so that I can use Horlicks and Nutella as flavoring.  Here are the results:

Malted Nutella Ice Cream Recipe
1 cup whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 tbsp Horlicks (Ovaltine or any other brand of malt powder also works)
5 tbsp Nutella

Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan.  Slowly bring to a boil over low-med heat, stirring occasionally.  In a medium bowl.  mix the Horlicks with a couple spoonfuls of hot milk mixture until you form a smooth paste.  Once a paste is formed, add enough hot milk mixture to make it liquidy.  Add the Horlicks mixture into the pot of hot milk mixture.  Repeat with the Nutella.
Beat the 2 eggs in a metal bowl.  One ladle at a time, very slowly add the hot milk mixture to the beaten eggs while whisking furiously.  Yes, furiously.  You want the hot milk mixture to gently temper the eggs without cooking them.
Once all the hot milk mixture is incorporated into the egg custard mixture, pour the custard mixture back into the pot and slowly bring to a gently simmer.  Do not let this boil.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until custard is at 170ºF or coats the back of the spoon.  Take mixture off heat.  Stir occasionally, letting custard cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.  The colder the mixture, the better.
Follow instructions of ice cream maker to turn the custard into ice cream!  Makes 4 cups of ice cream.

The Malted Nutella ice cream was a big hit.  I think I'll make another attempt at Bailey's ice cream after all...