Almond Ice Cream with Almond Toffee Crunch – Recipe
Another challenge from the Food Bloggers! This week it was almond. I thought a bit and decided I wanted to try an ice cream recipe. I didn’t just want plain ice cream so I decided to make an almond toffee too so I guess this is two recipes in one!
I don’t mess around!
I must admit that I was happily surprised with just how good the base ice cream was. This was a total experiment and I had no idea what was going to happen. It’s now a keeper for me and I’ll be trying different add ins with the base recipe going forward.
It is not a one day recipe that’s for sure but it was worth the effort. I also must admit that my toffee did not come out as it should have; it still tasted good so I added it in. It was a surprisingly humid day here in Montana when I made it and candy being a fussy thing to make I suspect that might have been the issue. Or it could have been any number of other problems. But such is the way of experimentation in the kitchen. The toffee recipe came from AllRecipes.com and I made a few adjustments to it.
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So here is the making of Almond Ice Cream with Almond Toffee Crunch. I made the ice cream base first as that had to sit overnight before I could run it through my ice cream maker. I have the Cuisinart 1 1/2 Quart Ice Cream Maker so my recipe is tailored towards that size machine. It’s a base recipe I have been working on for years since I started making homemade ice cream with my goats’ milk.
I heated the milk, 1/2 cup of sugar and a cup of almonds just to boiling and then let them sit for an hour.
I took the almonds out and set them aside to use later. I reheated the milk and mixed up the egg yolks and another 1/2 cup sugar.
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| Messy cook. Messy, messy cook! |
After the milk hit the just about boiling stage again I added a small amount the egg mixture to temper it. Whisking, whisking, whisking so the eggs would not cook. I added a bit more and then it all went back into the pot to heat.
I cooked and stirred. Stirred CONSTANTLY until the mixture coated the back of a spoon.
I strained it into a bowl and into the ‘fridge it went to cool overnight.
Then I took the almonds, peeled them, dried them and put them in a preheated 350° oven. I watched them because nuts brown quickly – mine took about 15 minutes and they were popping in there!
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| Bad photographer. Bad, bad photographer! |
After they cooled I chopped them for the toffee.
Making the toffee is easy but as I mentioned above mine did not come out as it should have. It separated. It did still taste good so I went with it….
The butter and sugar go into a heavy bottomed saucepan.
Stir until it boils and then add a candy thermometer and let it boil until it reaches 285°.
Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with foil, parchment or a silpat mat.
Have your add – ons ready.
After the mixture reaches the 285° pour it onto the prepared pan. Be careful! Boiling sugar is HOT!
Sprinkle the chips over the hot mixture and let them melt a bit. Then spread the melted chocolate with an offset spatula.
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| I do no know why my photos went all to heck in a handbasket for this post. |
Sprinkle the chopped almonds on top and press them in. It’s still a bit hot at this point so be careful. Refrigerate to harden.
You will need a cup of chopped toffee for the ice cream.
When you are ready to make the ice cream, add the base to the machine and the additional 1/2 cup of milk.
When it is just about finished add in the chopped toffee bits.
Into the freezer to harden!
It was really good. The ice cream had a delicious, true almond flavor – not at all like what extracts give you and the toffee crunch was a perfect addition. We both really enjoyed it!
I hope you check out the other almond recipes!
