Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

I bought myself a new toy! An ice cream maker. It really actually looks like a toy, too, in all its hard plastic glory. But despite its rather un-extraordinary appearance, with its moving parts that snap together like a tonka truck, I have to give it credit. My new toy produces eye-widening, silence-inducing ice cream.

I must admit that my first attempt was less than impressive. In my naive, if enthusiastic, efforts, I didn’t follow a recipe. With what confidence did I think that I was born knowing how to make ice cream? I don’t know. To my credit I began by loosely following a jumble of ideas I nabbed from a variety recipes, but decided half-way through making the custard that I would split it in two and make two flavours. (Mango and White Chocolate). The White Chocolate ended up being far too sweet, the Mango not nearly mango-y enough, and only the first was frozen because I didn’t realize you needed to re-freeze the bucket between batches. Lessons learned.

But, unwavering, I picked myself back up and tried again. (I’m very resilient that way). I started with a real recipe, Martha’s, but made it my own with the addition of a thick, fudgy, peanut butter-y ripple. Results? Like I said – the wide-eyed silence spoke for itself.

To make the custard, egg yolks are beaten with sugar until creamy and pale. It is then cooked with cream and milk until it is thickens, and cooled completely before being churned. Once frozen in the machine, the ice cream is swirled with peanut-butter fudge to create a rich, thick, ripple that sticks to the roof of your mouth.

Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

Adapted from Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Martha Stewart

• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream

• 2 cups whole milk

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 8 large egg yolks

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1/8 cup corn syrup

• 3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped finely

• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

• pinch of salt

To make ice cream:

1. Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Put yolks, sugar, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until yolk mixture has tripled in volume and can hold a ribbon on surface for 2 seconds, about 3 minutes.

3. Reduce speed to medium. Add cream and milk, and beat to combine. Transfer mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees; 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Add vanilla extract. Let cool completely, stirring often.

5. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately, or freeze in an airtight plastic container until ready to serve. If frozen for more than 4 hours, let ice cream stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

To make peanut butter fudge:

1. Combine cream and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until bubbling. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, peanut butter and salt. Cool.

To assemble:

1. Pour ice cream from machine into a freezer-safe container (it will be the consistency of soft-serve). Allow to harden slightly in freezer, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer and pour fudge sauce in a zig-zag over top (you may need to warm very slightly in microwave). Using a sturdy skewer or butter knife, gently swirl the fudge into the ice cream. Return to freezer and allow to harden another hour or more, until scoopable.

Last Updated on February 18, 2009 by Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD