Signe’s Kitchen

Rich & Dark Eggy Iced Dream

By Signe Langford Signe’s Kitchen www.signelangford.com

I adore ice cream but live a life of ice cream deprivation. I have to, because if I didn’t, I’d happily eat the stuff morning, noon and night, seven days a week. I make this brilliant recipe with chocolate almond “milk” - good dark cocoa and my ladies’ eggs to make it super-rich and velvety. I prefer Almond Breeze Chocolate Almond Milk; it works well, doesn’t separate and has a nice amount of chocolatey flavour to start with. As a bonus, this stuff is versatile. When first made and still warm, it makes an amazing hot fudge sauce, and poured into little cups and chilled, it’s the richest chocolate pudding ever.

INGREDIENTS

3 free-run egg yolks

1 free-run egg

2 1⁄2 cups (600 mL) chocolate almond milk

2 Tbsp (30 mL) butter or coconut butter

1⁄2 cup (120 mL) maple syrup

1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) fine sea salt

1⁄2 cup (120 mL) dark cocoa powder (I like fair trade cocoa)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and egg until well beaten; set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add the almond milk, butter, maple syrup, salt, and sift in the cocoa powder (to eliminate any lumps). Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often, then remove from heat.

3. Temper the eggs: add a tiny bit of the hot almond milk to the beaten eggs a few drops at a time, while whisking like mad. If you add the hot almond milk too fast or don’t whisk fast enough, you’ll end up with sweet scrambled eggs. Keep at this until you’ve added about half of the hot almond milk mixture to the eggs.

4. Pour the tempered eggs back into the saucepan with the rest of the almond milk mixture while whisking. Return to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard has thickened a fair bit. Remove from heat. It may seem too liquid, but it will thicken further as it cools.

5. If you want to be sure to remove any small pieces of cooked egg, set a fine sieve over a bowl and pour in the custard. Personally, I never bother (I like to live on the edge!), but some folk would insist! Put the lovely, satiny custard into the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours. This is important; you need to start with icecold ingredients or your home ice-cream maker might not be able to cope and you’ll have runny ice cream.

6. When custard is cold, add to your machine and follow the manufacturer’s directions.

The one I have just takes a few minutes of elbow grease and some patience—no need to scream—for ice cream!