Boy was it steamy in the Northeast on the first full day of summer!
One of the truly great and often overlooked things about being an adult, IMHO, is having the autonomy to decide to skip dinner and go right for dessert. I've been known to have ice cream for dinner on really hot days. Last night, I even made my own.
My first batch of ice cream for this summer is Gianduja Gelato from The Perfect Scoop. Those of you who are more recent readers may not yet fully appreciate the epic nature of my love of nutella. And peanut butter, but that's a different post.
If you are not familiar with Gianduja, it hails from Torino, Italy and, flavorwise, is that same nutella-like mix of hazelnuts and chocolate. Yum. Last year I made a peach and a strawberry ice cream from this book (somehow I didn't blog about them), but this is the first time I've made a custard based ice cream (with eggs) rather than a Philadelphia style ice cream. Some people fear making custard, since there is a risk of ending up with nutella-flavored scrambled eggs (ewwwww!!!). But as long as you temper the eggs by slowly adding some of the warm custard while whisking and keep stirring the custard while it thickens, you should be fine. Just don't rush.
To up the chocolatey-ness, I also added "stracciatella" or chocolate shreds to the gelato. I generally don't like chocolate chips in my ice cream - they get all hard and cold. But by melting some semisweet chocolate (5oz) while you churn your ice cream, and then pouring it in in a long stream at the very last minute of churning, you get thin shreds of chocolate throughout. Delicious!
The only thing I plan to do different next time is use fresher nuts (Whole Foods rather than pre-bagged supermarket nuts) so the flavor is even more intense.
Happy Friday, everyone!
 |
| Thanks to Dr K for sending me this ecard! So true! LOL |
One of the truly great and often overlooked things about being an adult, IMHO, is having the autonomy to decide to skip dinner and go right for dessert. I've been known to have ice cream for dinner on really hot days. Last night, I even made my own.
My first batch of ice cream for this summer is Gianduja Gelato from The Perfect Scoop. Those of you who are more recent readers may not yet fully appreciate the epic nature of my love of nutella. And peanut butter, but that's a different post.
If you are not familiar with Gianduja, it hails from Torino, Italy and, flavorwise, is that same nutella-like mix of hazelnuts and chocolate. Yum. Last year I made a peach and a strawberry ice cream from this book (somehow I didn't blog about them), but this is the first time I've made a custard based ice cream (with eggs) rather than a Philadelphia style ice cream. Some people fear making custard, since there is a risk of ending up with nutella-flavored scrambled eggs (ewwwww!!!). But as long as you temper the eggs by slowly adding some of the warm custard while whisking and keep stirring the custard while it thickens, you should be fine. Just don't rush.
Gianduja Gelato
1 1/2 c hazelnuts, toasted and with skins removed
1 c whole milk
2 c heavy cream
3/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz milk chocolate, chopped
5 large egg yolks
1/8 tsp vanilla
Chop nuts finely in a food processor. Heat the milk, 1 cup cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan until nearly boiling. Add nuts and let steep off the heat for 1 hour. Heat the remaining cream and pour over the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Pour the hazelnut mixture through a strainer into a saucepan squeezing the nuts to extract all the liquid. Discard nuts. Rewarm.
Temper the egg yolks with the hazelnut mixture and then add eggs into saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Pour the mixture through a strainer and into the chocolate. Add the vanilla and cool in an ice bath. Chill thoroughly and churn according to you ice cream maker directions.
 |
| Be patient with your egg yolks! |
To up the chocolatey-ness, I also added "stracciatella" or chocolate shreds to the gelato. I generally don't like chocolate chips in my ice cream - they get all hard and cold. But by melting some semisweet chocolate (5oz) while you churn your ice cream, and then pouring it in in a long stream at the very last minute of churning, you get thin shreds of chocolate throughout. Delicious!
 |
| mmmmmmm...dinner! |
The only thing I plan to do different next time is use fresher nuts (Whole Foods rather than pre-bagged supermarket nuts) so the flavor is even more intense.
Happy Friday, everyone!
3 comments:
oh. my. GAH.
Looks wonderful! Wish I had energy and time to make some.
Want some. Want some now. Mmmm, I lub me some hazelnut gelato. This flavor is sold as "baci" at the Coffeeology restaurant in my hometown.
Post a Comment