Screaming for Ice Cream!
I love ice cream and I am not alone. Proof is my husband’s freakish, radar-like ability to locate what’s deliberately hidden from him in the depths of our freezer, and also by the incredible number of choices available in Piedmont Grocery’s freezer section. They’re staggering: Vanilla, Marble Fudge, Phish Food and even Lavender and Basil! While flavor trends change, one thing is for certain: when it’s hot outside there is nothing like that creamy, high-butterfat goodness.

Growing up, we used to go to my grandmother’s house for dinner every Sunday. As a kid, this drove me crazy because I wanted to stay with my friends. Now, as an adult, I look back on it fondly. Gammy was a great cook (as are all the women in my family), and she always had the cool cooking gadgets. When Cuisinart first introduced the food processor, Gam had one. Like Pasta? Gam had a hand crank pasta maker (currently in my kitchen). The best thing she had though was this huge, extremely heavy, Il Gelataio gelato maker from Italy. It was loud, cost a fortune and it was a pain in the behind to clean. But it made some great ice cream.

Gam had this habit of explaining what she was doing when she was cooking every time she did it to the point of ritual. (I can’t even count the number of Thanksgivings where I had to learn yet again how to make a good roux for the gravy.) Ice cream making was no different. First, one poor soul had to lift the machine onto the counter without going into traction. Then you had to “chill the bowl”. Then we would pour the Vanilla Bean (She was adamant. It’s Vanilla Bean, not Vanilla!) ice cream into the machine and flip the switch. Twenty minutes later, we had was an incredibly creamy and oh-so-tasty treat.

For my birthday this year, I got one of those old-fashioned ice cream makers with a crank that you bribe your kids into turning by rewarding them with some really tasty combinations. I opted for the motor attachment. Lately, I find myself thumbing through Gam’s old ice cream recipes and books looking for ideas. One favorite isn’t hers (but it’s so darn good), and is listed below.

Nothing, however, will ever be as good as the Vanilla we had on hot Sunday nights when I was a kid.…I’m sorry. I meant Vanilla Bean.…

Malted Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanut Brittle and Milk Chocolate Pieces
Adapted from Epicurious | May 2012

by Kris Hoogerhyde, Anne Walker, and Dabney Gough
Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones
Chilling Time: 2 hours or overnight
Shelf Life: 1 week
Yield: Makes about 1 quart

This recipe was inspired by the malted ice cream at Herrell’s in Massachusetts. They were doing smush-ins long before anyone else, and it was there that Anne first tried malted vanilla ice cream with Heath bar pieces mixed in. It was love at first bite!

Ingredients
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup malted milk powder (such as Carnation)
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup 1% or 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped or 
grated (1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped Peanut Brittle, in 1/8-inch pieces

Special Equipment: Ice cream machine

Make the Base
In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up, then whisk in the malted milk powder. Set aside.

In a heavy nonreactive saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, sugar, and salt and put the pan over medium-high heat. When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.

Carefully scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture and, whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks. Repeat, adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream to the bowl with the yolks. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, stir the cream in the saucepan as you slowly pour the egg-and-cream mixture from the bowl into the pan.

Cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened, coats the back of a spatula, and holds a clear path when you run your finger across the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Set the container into an ice-water bath, wash your spatula, and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool. Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight. Freeze the ice cream.

Add the vanilla to the chilled base and stir until blended.

Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions and put the container you’ll use to store the ice cream into the freezer. Add the milk chocolate and the peanut brittle in the last minute or so of churning, or fold them in by hand after the ice cream comes out of the machine. Enjoy right away or, for a firmer ice cream, transfer to a container and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Source Information
Original recipe from Sweet Cream & Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery by Kris Hoogerhyde, Anne Walker, and Dabney Gough, copyright © 2012. Ten Speed Press

Kris Hoogerhyde and Anne Walker opened the acclaimed Bi-Rite Creamery in 2006. A veteran of the food business, Kris found her calling as a baker working with Anne at San Francisco’s 42 Degrees Restaurant. Anne’s career has spanned more than two decades as a pastry chef at some of San Francisco’s finest restaurants, including Cypress Club, Stanford Court Hotel, and Slow Club. Dabney Gough is a graduate of California Culinary Academy and a contributor to Fine Cooking.  Read More…