rocky road ice cream

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Something about the summer, I just want to eat ice cream all day every day.

Possibly related to it being hotter than the sun outside.  I’m not sure.

So, recently I’ve been keeping cool with this delicious, decadent, deeply-chocolatey ice cream.  Swirled with fudge ripple, chocolate-covered peanuts, and marshmallows.  Home-made rocky road.

And don’t think that just because there are toppings mixed in, that you can’t make a sundae out of it.  See down there?  It’s got this whole S’mores-Rocky-Road hybrid thing goin’ on.  And it’s good.  Very good. You may remember it from such hits as “my way to use Jeni’s gravel” (below)

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I was never a fan of rocky road growing up… I’ve had a long-standing prejudice against nuts in my baked goods.  I still refuse to eat brownies with walnuts, but ice cream with peanuts (especially these ones, which are covered in chocolate) is something I have managed to make room for in my life.

To make this ice cream, you just use your favorite chocolate ice cream (I provided my favorite chocolate ice cream recipe below), layered with chocolate sauce, peanuts, and marshmallows.  Super easy.

If you have your own favorite chocolate ice cream recipe, feel free to use that one.  But, if you’ve never made Jeni’s, I highly recommend giving it a try.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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This ice cream is so good it’s even making itself drool.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Makes: 1 pint

Printable Recipe

  • 1 recipe chocolate ice cream (recipe below)
  • 1 recipe fudge sauce (recipe below)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate-covered peanuts, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

For the sauce:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, dutch-processed
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt

1.  Whisk all ingredients except salt and vanilla in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil, whisking constantly.

2.  Once it boils, continue whisking for 1 minute over heat.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt; set aside to cool to room temperature.  Once cooled, transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

3.  Sauce can be stored up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

For the base:

  • 1 C whole milk
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe’s 72% Dark, figuring it was close enough)
  • 1/4 C heavy cream
  • 1 C evaporated milk
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
  • 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1. Mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl (this is called “making a slurry”). Set aside.

2. Chop chocolate and put it into a medium bowl. Fill a separate large bowl with ice water.

3. Combine the remaining milk, the cream, evaporated milk, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Add the cocoa, whisking until well-mixed. Continue boiling for 4 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Return to heat and bring back to a boil, stirring with a spatula, until slightly thickened (about 1 minute).

5. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the chocolate. Add salt and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

6. Pour mixture into a 1-gallon freezer bag and submerge sealed bag in ice water until cold (appx 30 minutes).

7. Pour bag contents into frozen ice cream machine and spin until thick and creamy (about 25 minutes in Cuisinart 2 gallon machine).

8. Layer ice cream in 1 quart storage container (those Ziploc ones work perfectly) – First spread a layer of fudge sauce, sprinkled with peanuts and marshmallow, then a layer of ice cream, then another layer of fudge sauce, peanuts marshmallows, etc… (see video for reference if this instruction isn’t clear) 😉  When done, press a layer of plastic or parchment against the top of the ice cream and cover with lid.  Place in coldest part of freezer for at least 4 hours, or until firm.

rocky road pin

[ ice cream base adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home ]

[ fudge ripple adapted from The Perfect Scoop ]

9 thoughts on “rocky road ice cream

  1. Nate is very against nuts in baked goods as well. It must be a character trait of awesome people….though I suppose that means I’m not awesome like you two. This ice cream looks like a tasty treat, especially during this disgustingly hot summer. Yum!!!

  2. now for my own comment: i can’t look at this without wanting to make ice cream constantly. i’ve already informed mr. table that i’m buying an ice cream maker immediately upon returning to my home city. I’m pretty sure the Cuisinart is going to be the winner.

    • YOU NEED A NEW ICE CREAM MAKER! I love the Cuisinart (I have the old version of this one), although I kinda wanna upgrade to this one because it’s … idk, bigger and fancier and I feel like it could be justified… More justified, than say, this one might be at least…. 😉

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