So much for turning over a new leaf and blogging all the time in 2016. It's been a busy start to the year with life (and moving house) slightly getting in the way of blogging. While cooking (and eating!) has continued finding the time to take all the lovely photos and write them up has just proved too difficult. If I had one of those watches that stops time then maybe things would be different...
Anyway, back to food. And possibly the best food of all, ice-cream! Yes, it may be February but that's no reason not to have ice-cream. In fact, that's every reason to have ice-cream! We love ice-cream. We love to be creative with flavours and try new things - especially as the market for Hannah-friendly ice-cream, whether it's lactose free, dairy free or vegan, is pretty limited. Anyway, we dug our trusty ice-cream maker out from it's box (it doesn't usually get treated this way, it's just all the moving house stuff!) and thought we'd put it to work. After deliberating whether to make our traditional mocha ice-cream or maybe our chocolate-peanut ice-cream, we decided it was time to be brave and try something new. We were fixed on chocolate, but what to mix it with? Then it came to me. Chilli. Of course, we love the chilli flavoured chocolate that Lindt and others sell so why not make that into ice-cream? The finished result was a triumph. Beautifully, silky-smooth chocolate ice-cream with a healthy kick and a bit of warmth from some chilli powder and a little cayenne pepper.
Ingredients
- 250ml Lactofree milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 75g caster sugar
- 100g chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
- 100g chocolate (50% cocoa solids)
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 250ml Lactofree cream
So here's how you do it...
1. As ever, you start by making a custard. Bring the Lactofree milk just to the boil, and then remove from the heat.
2. Mix your egg yolks with the caster sugar in a large bowl. Add the milk to the yolks and sugar and then return the combined mixture to the heat but make sure it does not boil. Stir continuously for 5 minutes while the custard thickens, then put it in the fridge to cool.
3. In a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water melt both kinds of chocolate together with the spices, make sure there are no lumps. You may want to reduce the amount of cayenne pepper (or omit entirely) if you're not so much the spicy fan!
4. Leave the pan on the heat but turn down to low and add the Lactofree cream into the melted chocolate stirring continuously to produce a smooth liquid. Cool both liquids in the fridge and then combine.
5. Add the mixed chocolate and custard to your ice-cream maker following its instructions.