Homemade Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream

With hot weather here, I've been on an ice cream-making bender. I make no apologies for being a complete ice cream maniac as well as an ice cream snob. I won't eat industrial ice cream which tastes insipid no matter which brand or flavour you get. Premium ice creams like Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's are okay but not fantastic. I mostly find them too sweet, wildly over-rated and over-priced.

When I had a small catering business sometime ago, I decided that what my cramped kitchen really needed was a professional ice cream maker. T did his habitual eyeroll when I announced my decision to invest in one. He knew that the main beneficiary of a monstrous appliance that ate up precious counter space would not be my catering clients, but me. He was right, of course, because no one in the Belgian countryside 10 years ago wanted to know about dulce de leche or prune-Armagnac or chocolate-chipotle or raspberry-basil ice cream. I discovered I had a knack for making killer ice cream in rebellious flavours. None of them went down well with conservative country folk whose tastes ran to chocolate and vanilla.

Clients would call and say, "We'd like to order some chocolate ice cream, but could you make it not so chocolatey?" I wanted to tell them they could buy fake chocolate ice cream at the supermarket, but bit my tongue.

Or worse: "Can't you make low-fat ice cream, like they make in America?" No, I bloody can't. Never got the point of low-fat anything.

It got very frustrating. I stopped making ice cream for others but continued to make it for my family. Apart from the occasional Smooth versus Chunky argument, they have no complaints.

This recipe is ridiculously easy and very rich. It comes from the divine David Lebovitz whose book of ice cream recipes, The Perfect Scoop, is one of two things you will need to transport you to ice cream heaven. The other thing is an ice-cream maker. No, you don't have to spend a fortune on one. There are good quality machines for home use that don't cost very much.

Here you go.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 cups (500 ml) half-and-half*
¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup (100 g) sugar
Pinch of salt
½ cup (130 g) smooth peanut butter

Whisk together the half-and-half, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Makes about 1 liter/1 quart.


* Half-and-half is a mixture of cream and milk. Whatever you do, don't use nonfat.


Mo biggah mo bettah.