Toasted Almond w/ Cherries and Dark Chocolate

Cherries and chocolate are already a godly combo but throw the toasted almond flavor in there and WOW. I know you guys didn’t even know you needed this ice cream in your life but i’m telling you- you fucking neeeeed this ice cream in your life.

I had 0 plans on making ice cream this ‘weekend’ (I added the quotations cause it’s actually a tuesday / wednesday but we all know my ridiculous schedule here) but luckily Mama’s first words to me when I got in yesterday was “we should make ice cream tonight”. So if our identical body shape and faces don’t tell you we’re related- that statement certainly says it all.

The thing about this ice cream is that the base gets about 80% of its flavor from the actual toasted almonds when you let it steep. I was in a time crunch and didn’t have the hour to just hang out and watch almonds soak in warm milky sugar. To compensate for my impatience, I added an extra splash or so of the almond extract (really professional measurements here guys, I know you’re impressed). Although it worked in the sense that I got the almond flavor I wanted in 3 seconds vs an hour, I don’t recommend being a corner-cutting- cheater like I am. Take the hour, steep your almonds, thank me later.

As far as the cherries go- PUT THE MARASCHINO CHERRIES DOWN. This is no place for those fluorescent red sugar balls. Save those of the tops of your sundaes, never the inside of your creations. You want Bing Cherries. Yes- like Chandler Bing, bata bing bata boom, I don’t know, I ran out of Bing references but whatever, you get it. If you can get your hands on a jar of pre-stemmed and pitted, go for it. Save yourself the 10 mins and the temptation to just pop them in your mouth.

Recipe is a variation from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop aka My Bible.

INGREDIENTS :

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup melted dark chocolate
• 1 cup well-drained Bing Cherries, coarsely chopped

LETS DO THIS:

Serving Size: About a quart

1. Warm the milk, sugar, salt, and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan.
2. Finely chop 1 cup of the toasted almonds and add them to the warm milk. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Strain the almond-infused milk into a separate medium saucepan. Press with a spatula or squeeze with your hands to extract as much flavor from the almonds as possible. Discard the almonds.
4. Rewarm the almond-infused milk.
5. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
6. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Temper the eggs by slowly pouring the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
7. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
8. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
9. Stir in the almond extract and stir until cool over an ice bath.
10. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
11. During the last few minutes of churning, add the remaining 1 cup chopped almonds and in a thin slow stream, drizzle in the melted dark chocolate
12. When you remove the ice cream from the machine, fold in the chopped cherries.