The details:
I was not extremely precise with this ice cream, making a couple substitutions out of necessity or preference: since I used up all my slivered (whole were actually called for) almonds for steeping in the milk, I had to use sliced ones for mixing in! Somehow it all turned out okay. More significantly, I used a melange (1 cup each) of 1% milk, half-and-half, and whipping cream rather than the 1 c. whole milk to 2 c. cream formula given. That's a difference of 5% in the fat percentage of the dairy if my math is right, and let me attest that 5% does not matter here. I also used the stracciatella recipe/method for the first time: simply 4 oz. of dark chocolate melted and drizzled in during the last minute of churning. This not only added the most remarkable foodstuff ever to an already outrageous ice cream, but also gave it a more interesting texture along with the almonds. I will have serious difficulty restraining myself from doing this with any and all future ice creams, now that I know what sort of magic happens when you drizzle chocolate into a freezing mixture.
P.S. Sometimes I like to cost out things I make from scratch to see how they would compare with their storebought/premade counterparts. Ice cream is not one of the things that is much (if any) cheaper to make at home, depending on the quality ($) of your ingredients, so it's not the most satisfying calculation if you are trying to be frugal. For this one the breakdown is:
milk: $0.20
half-and-half: $0.44
cream: $1.25
sugar: let's say negligible
almonds: $2
(frozen) cherries: $2
5 eggs (just yolks but we'll count the whole eggs): $0.83
chocolate: $1
and salt and almond extract are negligible. This means the total comes to about $7.75 for a quart of ice cream, which is definitely on the extravagant side---I choke at paying full price (what, $5?) for a huge container of Breyers. But I would say this is certainly a worthy occasional indulgence.
2 comments:
I've always thought stracciatella superior to regular chocolate chip or chocolate chunk. There's just something about the flaky texture... uhhh... yum!
And, now I know how java chip frappuccinos must be made. I tried so many ways of incorporating chocolate into my home attempts, and none of them worked. I'm pretty sure straciatella is the answer. Will have to test that later...
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