With smooth, rich caramel almond butter base and deeply chocolaty stracciatella, you really don't need anything else. Except maybe some almonds covered in dark chocolate with sea salt and turbinado sugar. Thanks, Walgreens!
½cupchopped almond toffee or candied almonds or whole, chocolate-covered almonds (optional, and totally up to you what you mix in)
Instructions
To Make the Base
In a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stir together the sugar and water until all the sugar is moistened. You may need a bit more than 1/4 cup. The measurement isn't imperative here. You just need enough to get the sugar wet.
Bring the sugar to a boil over medium heat.
Put the lid on and let it boil 2 minutes to wash any sugar crystals off the sides of the pot.
Remove the lid and cook undisturbed until the sugar begins to turn a pale honey color. Gently swirl the pan to promote even coloration and let the sugar cook until very deep amber. The caramel will begin to smoke just a bit and might start to bubble up just a bit. As soon as that happens, carefully add the 12 oz half and half.
The caramel will bubble up madly, but be brave. Once the mad bubbling subsides, whisk the caramel off the heat. Some of the caramel will have gotten hard. Worry not. Set the pan aside.
In another sauce pan, whisk the 20 oz half and half, salt, cornstarch and egg yolks over medium heat until hot. Once it's hot, pour it into the pan with the caramel and continue to whisk and heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. By that time, all the hardened caramel will have melted back into the sauce. Allow the mixture to boil, whisking constantly, for about 15 seconds.
Pour into a metal bowl and carefully whisk in the almond butter and vanilla. Taste and adjust seasonings. You can add a touch more salt or even a little more sugar if you think it needs it. Nothing bad will happen.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer into another bowl to get out any larger bits of almond or skins (optional, but it helps the finished ice cream have a smoother texture)
Chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, until room temperature. Then press plastic wrap onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until cold (no warmer than 40F).
Churn according to manufacturer's instructions.
Once the ice cream has reached the soft serve state, drizzle in most of the melted chocolate in a thin stream (recipe below).
Toss in your mix-ins and stir by hand to evenly distribute them.
Pack into your container. Press a few mix-ins on top and drizzle on the rest of the stracciatella in a Decorative Pattern. (Totally optional, but really pretty)!
The chocolate will harden almost immediately. When it does, gently press plastic wrap onto the surface of the ice cream and freeze for several hours until firm. Allow to temper for about 5 minutes before scooping.
For the Stracciatella
Place the chips and oil in a small bowl and microwave on low power in 15 second bursts, stirring in between, until evenly melted but barely warm. I use power level 2 on our microwave.