Everyone who knows me well, knows that I can't get enough of chocolate and peanut butter. When I was working at Oxmoor House, any time that there was anything chocolate and peanut butter related whether it be something we were working on or something that was in taste testing, everyone would always come and tell me that I would have to try it. I'm also pretty picky about my chocolate and peanut butter, it has to be just the right ratio. Well for a while now, I've been trying to master the perfect chocolate and peanut butter ice cream recipe. Everything has been close but not quite there. This is another close but no cigar recipe but I will say it is pretty tasty. Its from Jeni's and I checked out her book from the library and it has a lot of neat ice cream flavors, some a little too fancy for my taste but this one I knew I had to try. It has a cream cheese base which gives it a really creamy texture that I like but my chocolate didn't blend well and it wasn't enough. I will definitely make this one again, but I will still be searching for the perfect chocolate and peanut butter ice cream recipe.
The Buckeye State Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (less if using saltier peanut butter)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
4 ounces chocolate (55% to 70% cocoa), chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (less if using saltier peanut butter)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
4 ounces chocolate (55% to 70% cocoa), chopped
Prep
Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, peanut butter, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
Cook
Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Chill
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
Freeze
Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and begin to spin the ice cream.
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double broiler. Remove from the heat and let cool until tepid but still fluid. When the ice cream is thick and creamy and almost finished, drizzle the melted chocolate slowly through the opening in the top of the ice cream machine and allow it to solidify and break up in the ice cream for about 2 minutes.
Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.