Chocolate and Brown Butter Toffee Ice Cream

Chocolate and Brown Butter Toffee Ice Cream

ice cream:

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 6 tablespoons Special Dark cocoa powder

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (80-85% cacao)

• 5 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)

toffee sauce:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar

• 3/4 cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

extras:

• 1 cup Heath bits

Note: As with any homemade ice cream, this recipe requires a little planning ahead. The base needs to be made the night before so it has plenty of time to chill.

Make the Ice Cream Base:

Combine the cream, milk, salt, cocoa powder and chopped chocolate in a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to blend in the cocoa powder and chocolate.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar and brown sugar until smooth. When the cream mixture just starts to bubble around the edges, slowly stream about a cup of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking to temper the eggs. Scrape the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Whisking constantly, cook the custard for about 5 minutes, until thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and bourbon.

Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to strain out any bits of cooked egg. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, placing the plastic right against the surface of the custard. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight. The custard needs to be very cold before churning. To chill it more quickly, place the bowl of custard inside a larger bowl of ice water and stir the custard to cool it down.

Make the Toffee Sauce:

Place the butter in a saucepan. Over medium heat, melt the butter, then continue cooking the butter for about 4-5 minutes, swirling it around every so often, until the butter is very fragrant and you see nutty brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Add the brown sugar and cream. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.

Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate until chilled.

Freeze the Ice Cream:

Place a glass dish in the freezer to get cold. Take the chilled custard and churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Spoon a third of the ice cream into the cold dish. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the toffee sauce (just use as little or as much as you like and keep the leftovers for, well, anything you want), then sprinkle with a third of the Heath bits. Repeat with two more layers of ice cream, toffee sauce and heath bits.

Cover with plastic and freeze until firm, about 4-6 hours.

Making Ice Cream Sandwiches:

If making ice cream sandwiches, bake and cool your favorite cookies, making them a little larger than usual.

When the ice cream is firm, take a biscuit cutter or round cutter the same size as the cookies and cut down through the ice cream to remove a disk of ice cream. If it's too thick, use a sharp knife to slice it into 2 disks. Sandwich between the cookies.

Yields about 1 1/2 quarts ice cream.

Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen