Chocolate Chile Ice Cream

Yeppers, Larry has been at it again, experimenting with different ice cream flavours! Our neighbour, Wendy, likes to bring us chocolate and chile chocolate bars when  she comes to dinner as she knows we enjoy them so much. Et voila (as Larry would say in French)…this was the inspiration for this recipe. It is very rich to say the least. Yesterday we served it with a raspberry sauce which Larry also ‘enriched’ with a few more bits of ancho pepper, drizzled on the plate for additional heat and decoration. Actually the ice cream is NOT hot…the taste of the peppers is very subtle…..

Chocolate Chile Ice Cream

Ingredient list

A          2 eggs + 2 egg yolks

1/3 cup brown sugar

B          1 cup whole milk

9 oz. bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 dried chile pasilla, ancho or arbol

C          2 cups heavy cream

2 Tbsp. Kahlua or whatever you think would taste good with the chocolate and chile

½ cup chocolate chips (sweet or semi-sweet)

D         ¼ cup chocolate chips (sweet or semi-sweet)

½ cup of chopped, toasted almonds or other nuts

Preparation Sequence

Note:  It is quite easy to prepare the toasted almonds over a low heat, while doing Steps A and B simultaneously.

A          Set up a “bain-Marie”, bring water to a boil and turn down to a simmer.

Place the eggs, yolks and brown sugar in the bain-Marie and beat until light and fluffy.

B          In a separate pot place the chopped bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, milk and the chile. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted, the mixture is smooth and creamy and milk is almost boiling, about 170 to 180 F. Pour onto the egg mixture, discarding the chile, and beat well. Let cool.  Slit open the chile, remove and separate the seeds, finely chop the chile and set aside to add to the mixture during step D.  Note:  Only add the chopped chile and seeds to obtain the amount of “kick” that you want in the finished product.   As an alternative, you could just add a few flakes of dried chile.  The problem is, you don’t know how much “heat” you will have until you taste the frozen ice-cream, so you have to experiment!!!!  

C          Lightly whip the cream, Kahlua and vanilla together in a separate bowl.  Add the cooled chocolate custard mixture from part C and the ½ cup of chocolate chips.  Blend together with a spatula.

D          Transfer the mixture to an ice cream machine and process for about 15–20 minutes. Add in the remaining ¼ cup of chips and the ¾ cup of almonds and process for approximately another 5-10 minutes, adding in the chile slowly.  Transfer to containers for freezing.  Remove from freezer about 15 minutes to allow ice cream to soften slightly for easy serving.

Author: reg45

Canadian guy living part time in Progreso, Yucatan. View all posts by reg45