Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream And Saveur Blog Awards Nominating A Friend

As far back as I can remember I have loved ice cream in almost any form. Whether on a stick, in a cup or cone, in a milk shake or float it’s all good. When I was 16 years old my first job was a scooper at Baskin Robbins, a dream job for this ice cream lover. My favorite flavor was Jamoca Almond Fudge. I have always loved coffee and chocolate and this combination was so delicious, we were allowed a free cone during our work shift and this was the flavor I always chose.  It has been a long time since I’ve been to a Baskin Robbins, I was only going by memory of how this ice cream tastes and it’s really pretty close to how I remember it.

I wanted a good strong coffee flavor so I cold brewed some dark roast coffee in half and half, I decided against making a traditional custard with eggs, instead I heated cream and half and half, milk, sugar and cornstarch making a thickish base, after removing from the heat I added the cream cheese,  cold brewed coffee mixture, some vanilla and a tsp of cocoa powder and refrigerated. The fudge component is a ganache, 4 oz chocolate and 4 ounces of cream. Toast some almonds in the oven and chop them and there you have it. Simple and very delicious.

Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream recipe on Food52

Makes approximately 1 quart

Cold Brewed Coffee

1 cup half and half or milk or all three

4 coffee scoops of dark roast coffee

Place in jar, shake and refrigerate at least 24 hours up to 48 hours. When done strain and refrigerate until ready to use.

Ice Cream Base

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk or half and half

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbs corn starch

1-2 tbs softened cream cheese

1 cup cold brewed coffee

1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp instant espresso (medaglia d’oro)

Place heavy cream and milk or half and half, sugar and cornstarch in heavy saucepan. Whisk to combine and cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add the cream cheese, whisk to combine and then add the cold brewed coffee, cocoa powder and instant espresso. Stir well and pour into bowl or glass measuring cup lay plastic wrap on top of the custard, cover with another sheet of plastic and refrigerate overnight. NOTE: I don’t add the cold brewed coffee to the pot with the cream and milk and heat because I find that coffee takes on a different flavor when heated directly on the stove or even in the microwave. I wanted the coffee flavor to be pure and not compromised by heat.

Fudge swirl and toasted almonds

4 oz chocolate, dark or dark and milk your choice

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbs light corn syrup (optional)

1/2 cup whole raw almonds

Heat heavy cream in microwave or on stove top until scalding. In microwave approximately 45 seconds. Add chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, if there are pieces put back in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Add the optional corn syrup. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat oven to 350 place almonds on sheet pan and toast until they are fragrant, approximately 10-15 minutes, or toast the almonds in a skillet. Let cool and chop into small pieces.

Making the Ice Cream

Take the fudge out of the refrigerator so that it comes to room temperature, you may need to help it along by putting in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Make the ice cream by following the manufacturers directions, when the ice cream is almost done add the almonds, churn for a minute or so just so that the almonds are mixed in and then put half in your container, add several spoonful of the fudge on top. Repeat adding the rest of the ice cream, fudge. Using a bamboo skewer or butter knife swirl the fudge into the ice cream. Freeze until it is a scoopable consistency, I find it takes at least 4 hours in the coldest part of the freezer but usually I let it sit overnight.

Saveur Magazine is now taking nominations for their 2016 blog awards and I have nominated my friend Aleksandra, her amazing and gorgeous blog deserves the award IMHO. She has done a guest post on this blog and is a good friend from Food52. I nominated her in the photography category, one look at her photo’s and you will see why, visit her blog, Three Little Halves and if you feel so inclined and don’t mind please nominate her for the Saveur Award in the category of photography, it only takes a second. She won a James Beard award for her writing and when a blog is this beautiful it deserves to be noticed. Thank you so much.