Double Choc Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Yes, yes I know I’ve rattled on about next month’s Happiness Project Goal being Health…but I felt like making ice cream! Plus, it’s not March yet!

This is a recipe I’ve used before with much success. I used the basic chocolate ice cream recipe from the booklet that came with my ice  cream machine and then added bits of homemade chic chip cookie dough. If you haven’t tried the world’s best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe yet…why not!? You can find it here.

Double Choc Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process preferred)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. Place the cocoa and both sugars in a medium bowl and stir to combine
2. Add the milk
3. Mix on low speed (or whisk) to combine until cocoa and sugars are dissolved
4. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla
5. Pour into ice cream machine and follow manufacturers instructions
6. Add small rolled balls of chocolate chip cookie dough to mixture 5 minutes before it is done
7. Transfer to freezer safe container and freeze

This recipe is so yummy! Enjoy!

Eleanor x

Caramel Ice Cream with Choc-Macadamia Bits & Chocolate Sauce

I had promised to make the girls at my dance studio a batch of my home made ice cream for a few weeks now and thought (on my day off) it was high time to come through with the goods! It also just so happens to be one of my dance teacher’s birthday today, too. Perfect!

I wanted to try something a bit different to my usual go-to seriously rich chocolate with mix-ins ice cream. So I hunted around a bit for some ice cream recipes and finally found this Caramel Ice Cream recipe that looked quite nice. But, I couldn’t really fathom making plain ice cream, so I thought I’d make it a bit more interesting by adding in some chopped chocolate and macadamias as well as some yummy Haigh’s Chocolate Sauce (my Valentine’s gift).

leftover ice cream in a teacup!

Caramel Ice Cream 

Ingredients:

• 8 egg yolks
• 350mL full cream milk
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split (or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste)
• 300mL thick cream
• 1 block macadamia chocolate
• Chocolate sauce

Method:

1. Lightly whisk egg yolks in a bowl
2. Gently heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and pour over the eggs
3. Stir well to combine, then set aside
4. Place sugar and 2 tablespoons of cold water in a saucepan over low heat and stir to dissolve sugar
5. Increase heat to medium and cook until mixture begins to turn a rich golden colour
6. Add vanilla bean (or paste) and cook for a few seconds (don’t let the mixture get too dark or the ice-cream will be very bitter)
7. Very carefully pour in the cream (it will splatter quite a lot at this stage)
8. Reduce heat to low and stir to melt the lumps of caramel that have formed
9. When it is smooth, stir in the egg mixture
10. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens
11. Transfer to bowl and leave in fridge for a few hours or overnight until cool
12. When mixture is cooled, pour into ice cream maker and mix for 20-25mins
13. Add in chopped macadamia chocolate and let mix for 5mins
14. Transfer into freezer container one-third at a time, placing a thin layer of chocolate sauce between each layer
15. Gently fold mixture a few times to create a swirl with the ice cream and the chocolate sauce
16. Place covered in freezer

This ice cream is seriously rich! The recipe I used and modified only made a fairly small amount – if you make it you might like to try mixing it with some homemade vanilla bean ice cream as well, it may tone down the intense caramel flavour.

Good luck!

Eleanor x

Chocolate Ice Cream with Homemade Honeycomb

Being a keen baker and consumer of all things sweet, I managed to nab my parents’ ice cream machine a couple of years ago. When I first got it I went sufficiently nuts creating far too much ice cream in a short space of time for any sane individual to consume. I may have been slightly ice-creamed out as I haven’t made any since then..about a year ago! Maybe it has something to do with it finally being summer, so I am slightly more inclined to snack on something cold.

I’ve also been meaning to make honeycomb from scratch for a while now too so I figured I may as well kill two birds with one stone!*

I found the honeycomb recipe here.

Chocolate and Honeycomb Ice Cream

Homemade Honeycomb

Ingredients:

• 100g caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarb soda

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper
2. Melt the caster sugar and golden syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat
3. Swirl the pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves (don’t stir with a spoon otherwise it will go grainy)
4. Let the mixture come to a boil and develop a deep golden brown colour (not too dark though, or it will taste burnt)
5. Take mixture off the heat and immediately add the bicarb soda
6. Mix thoroughly with silicone or metal spoon until combined – it will bubble and froth and expand in size and resemble foam
7. Pour straight into lined tray
8. Let it sit on the bench until set (mine took 20 minutes but it may take longer if your kitchen is humid – or you could pop it in the fridge for a while to firm up)
9. Once set, break up into desired size pieces (I crumbled mine into fairly small pieces for the ice cream)
10. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place – any moisture will cause the honeycomb to become soft

have your bicarb soda measured and ready to throw into the pot as soon as your mixture is ready

i let my mixture get slightly darker than this before removing from heat

the mixture should foam up like this once the bicarb soda is added

it's hard to get the mixture to sit nicely, but don't worry - it will set and then you can break it up into bite size pieces

honeycomb crumbled and ready to be added to the ice cream!

 

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process preferred)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups full cream milk
• 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of honeycomb (optional)

Method:

1. Place the cocoa and sugars in a medium bowl
2. Stir to combine
3. Add the milk
4. Mix on low speed or whisk to combine until the cocoas and sugars are dissolved (1-2 minutes)
5. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla
6. Pour into ice cream machine and follow directions from manufacturer
7. Add in 1 cup of honeycomb about 5 minutes before the mixture is done
8. Transfer mixture into airtight container and store in freezer
9. You may have to let ice cream soften for 15 minutes before serving
10. Sprinkle excess honeycomb over ice-cream before serving

adding the honeycomb to the ice cream mixture

Please be advised that success with the honeycomb requires a cool temperature and good quality ingredients. A lot can go wrong with it otherwise. Make sure there is no humidity, that you are using good quality bicarb soda (McKenzies brand is recommended) that is not too old and that you let the golden syrup and caster sugar boil for long enough to achieve the deep golden colour, but not too long so as to burn the mixture. If you have any troubles, remember what you did and feel free to ask where you went wrong.

Good luck!

Eleanor x

*no birds were harmed in the making of this ice cream 🙂