Chocolate Cherry Almond Ice Cream Food

CHERRY-CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put the cherries, 2 tablespoons sugar and the rum in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until syrupy, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool, then refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, heat the milk and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture into the eggs, then whisk the egg mixture into the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats a spoon and registers 168 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat; add the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate and the butter and set aside until the chocolate melts, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the chocolate mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Churn the chilled chocolate mixture in an ice cream maker. Strain the cherry mixture, reserving the syrup. When the ice cream is very thick, add the cherries and continue churning until incorporated. Transfer to a freezer-safe container. Drizzle in the reserved cherry syrup and swirl with a spoon. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY ALMOND ICE CREAM

Steps:

• To toast the almonds, heat the oven to 350°F.
• Spread the almonds in a thin layer in a shallow baking pan.
• Bake 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown.
• Cool before using.
• Beat egg yolks and 2 cups cream in a large bowl on low to medium speed of mixer, the set aside.
• Stir together sugar and cocoa in a large saucepan.
• Gradually stir in the egg yolk mixture.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very hot.
• DO NOT BOIL!
• Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Stir the remaining 4 cups cream, almond extract and vanilla into the chocolate mixture, blending well.
• Cover and refrigerate mixture at least 6 hours.
• Pour the chocolate mixture in your ice cream maker or a suitable piece of Tupperware.
• Immediately fold in cherries and almonds.
• Freeze for several hours or overnight.

DIVINE CHERRY CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Stir together cream, milk, sugar, and the juice from the jar of cherries in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat. Place the egg yolks into a large bowl, then whisk in hot cream, about 2 tablespoons at a time, until you have added 2 cups.
• Whisk the hot yolks into the saucepan of hot cream, then cook on low, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 170 degrees F (75 degrees C). It will have thickened enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into a container, cover, and refrigerate until cold, about 6 hours.
• Chop the reserved maraschino cherries, then stir into the cold custard along with almond extract, and chopped chocolate. Pour into ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

CHERRY RIPPLE & ALMOND CRUNCH ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Remove the stalks and stones from 300g cherries (some garlic crushers have a cherry pitter on the handle, but if not, simply use a knife), then roughly chop. Put into a medium pan, add 85g caster sugar, then cook very gently for 10 mins until the sugar melts. Turn up the heat a little, then simmer for 15 mins until softened and surrounded by a syrupy sauce. Cool completely.
• Meanwhile, put the cream, icing sugar and Disaronno into a large bowl. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Fold in the custard, then churn in an ice-cream machine until very thick.
• For the almond crunch, lightly oil a baking sheet. Put 2 tbsp caster sugar into a non-stick pan, then gently heat until the sugar melts. Swirl or stir the sugar a few times if it melts unevenly, then bubble for 30 secs or until the sugar turns to amber caramel. Stir in the nuts, then pour onto the sheet. Cool completely until brittle. Snap into chunks, then put into a food bag and crush with a rolling pin.
• Spoon the soft ice cream into a freezer-proof container, then spoon over ribbons of the syrupy cherries and scatter with the crunchy nut caramel. Ripple through a few times with a knife. Freeze for at least 6 hrs, or ideally overnight. Serve with the whole cherries and almond biscotti.

CHERRY ALMOND ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Place cherries, sugar and water in top of double boiler.
• Cook over med heat for around ten minutes, allowing the fruit to soften and sugar to dissolve.
• Take out 1/2 of the cherries and drain juices back into pan.
• Puree the rest of the mixture.
• Roughly chop the 1/2 cup of cherries and mix back into puree.
• Chill thoroughly.
• Add half and half and egg to a blender and blend till smooth.
• Whisk in chilled cherry mixture.
• Add heavy cream and almond extract.
• Blend well, and chill.
• Transfer mixture to ice cream maker and freeze according to your machine's instructions.
• Add almonds, if desired, near end of cycle, when the ice cream is thick enough to prevent all the almonds to sink to the bottom of the mix.

BURNT ALMOND AND CHERRY CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat; cook and stir almonds in melted butter until toasted or slightly burnt, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
• Mix cream, half-and-half, sugar, cocoa mix, and vanilla extract together in a bowl; transfer cream mixture to an ice cream maker. Follow manufacturer's instructions for freezing. Add almonds, chocolate chips, and cherries once ice cream is almost stiffened and continue freezing until ice cream is completely stiffened.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY ALMOND GELATO WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE STRACCIATELLA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine chopped chocolate, jam, cream cheese, vanilla and Amaretto or almond extract. Set aside convenient to the stove.
• In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine the milk, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk over medium to medium high heat until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Let boil for 15 seconds.
• Pour the cooked base into the bowl with the chocolate. Allow to sit a couple of minutes and stir until the chocolate has melted.
• If using bars with nuts/fruit in them, steep for thirty minutes and then strain the mixture into another bowl, pressing down on the solids. Otherwise, strain straight away.
• Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the gelato base and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (40F). You can also do this in an ice bath to speed up the process.
• Churn the base according to your manufacturer's instructions.
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 15 second bursts on medium power. Stir together with the oil until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool to just-barely-warm and liquid before using.
• Place the frozen berries, the sugar, lemon juice and salt into a heavy bottomed sauce pan.
• Allow to sit until the cherries have thawed and release some of their juices, about an hour.
• Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer.
• Turn the heat down to just high enough to maintain the simmer (medium-low on my stove) and, stirring occasionally, cook the cherries until the mixture reaches 221F.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the Amaretto or extract. Allow to cool then cover and chill before using.
• Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, add in the frozen chopped chocolate. Then drizzle in as much of the stracciatella as you like in a thin stream.
• Layer 1/3 of the churned base in your container. Top with 2-3 tablespoons of jam and spread it out as well as you can.
• Layer in another third of the base, top with another 2-3 Tablespoons of jam and finish with the last bit of base.
• Run a knife back and forth up and down through the base and jam to swirl it together a bit more and smooth the top.
• Add some decorative stracciatella drizzles or not and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
• Feed the Hungry Goddess in you. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE ALMOND ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for at least 2 minutes. In a large heavy saucepan, heat the milk, sugar and salt until bubbles form around sides of pan. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into the eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. , Cook and stir over low heat until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat. Stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved; stir in chocolate until blended. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. , Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. When ice cream is frozen, stir in almonds. Transfer to a freezer container; freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.

CHERRY-ALMOND ICE CREAM CAKE WITH MILK CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Make chocolate sauce:
• Heat 2/3 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts and sauce is smooth. Mix in vanilla extract. Cool sauce to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
• Make ice cream cake:
• Line bottom of 9 x 5 x 2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on long sides. Using back of spoon, spread 1 pint ice cream over bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup cookie crumbs. Spread another 1 pint ice cream over cookie crumbs. Freeze until ice cream is firm, about 20 minutes. Spread with 3/4 cup sauce; freeze 20 minutes. Spread with remaining 1 pint ice cream; sprinkle with 1 cup cookie crumbs, pressing crumbs into ice cream to adhere. Cover pan and freeze ice cream cake until very firm, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 5 days ahead. Keep cake frozen. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce. Store remaining 1 cup crumbs airtight at room temperature.)
• Stir remaining sauce in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until warmed through; pour into small pitcher or bowl. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Turn cake out onto platter. Peel off parchment. Sprinkle top of cake with remaining 1 cup crumbs.
• Cut cake crosswise into slices. Serve immediately with warm sauce.

MOLE CAKE WITH CHERRY-ALMOND ICE CREAM, TAMARIND ANGLAISE, AND ORANGE CARAMEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• To prepare the ice cream, place the cherries and sherry in a mixing bowl and let soak for 20 minutes. Place the cream in a saucepan, add the half-and-half, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, almond extract, almonds, and cherries with their soaking liquid, and bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and slowly add the cream mixture while continuing to whisk vigorously. Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat while whisking continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Strain into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions (discard the cherries and almonds).
• To prepare the cake, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and keep warm. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a food processor, place the chiles, sugar, canela, cloves, and pumpkin seeds and grind until superfine. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract on low speed. Add the chile mixture and whisk for 10 minutes longer. Add the melted chocolate, whisk to incorporate, and slowly add the butter until combined.
• Pour the batter into 8 lightly oiled 4-ounce ramekins and place in a water bath. Transfer to the oven and bake for 13 to 14 minutes; the cakes will feel only slightly firm. Remove the ramekins and keep refrigerated until 1 hour before serving. Cakes are even better slightly warmed in the oven.
• To prepare the anglaise, place the cream, sugar, vanilla, and tamarind in the saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, breaking up the tamarind with a wooden spoon. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and slowly add the cream mixture while whisking vigorously. Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat, while whisking continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Strain and let cool; keep covered.
• To prepare the caramel, heat the sugar and 1 cup of water in a heavy saucepan over high heat. When the sugar turns from golden brown to amber, turn off the heat and slowly whisk in the orange juice, the caramel may turn hard but it will melt again when reheated. Turn the heat back on to medium and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.
• To serve, place the ramekins in a shallow pan of very hot water for 1 minute. Invert the ramekins and tap on the bottom to turn out the cakes. Transfer to serving plates and bring to room temperature. Top with a scoop of the ice cream and spoon the anglaise and caramel around the cakes.