Jeni’s Spinalong #3 – S’mores Ice Cream with Toasted Marshmallow and Fudge Ripple

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With the third installment of our Jeni’s Spinalong Series, Mrs. Table and I chose a nice, broad theme. Our original plan was a “back to school” theme, during which we discovered that we were creating quite literally the same. exact. ice cream. So, we decided to think bigger and broader with this month’s theme and went for a simple: “Welcome to Fall” theme, or -more accurately – our feels about fall. The recipe requirement? Gravel

Everyone has their own ideas about fall and what it should entail. No doubt many of you equate the autumn season with pumpkin spice lattes and changing leaves. Shannon thinks about fall harvests and late summer bounties – she, being ever the adventurous one, churned out some crazy good buttermilk sage ice cream with toasted cumin honey and cornbread gravel. Like a delightful marriage of sweet and savory enveloped in creamy, tangy ice cream with crunchy cornbread gravel, it’s the kind of ice cream I can imagine seeing on the menu of my favorite fancy-pants restaurant.

But for me, autumn always evokes memories of backyard bonfires and pullover sweaters. The smell of burning leaves in my hair and the crisp, cool air, burning roasting marshmallows alongside friends and family and squishing them between two crisp grahams. So, for my ice cream, I took this warm, gooey treat and turned it into a firm, cool ice cream. Which is an especially good thing for me since we are still enduring triple digit heat here in Arizona and if I want to feel like I’m standing nearby (or inside of) a bonfire all I need to is take a few steps outside. Now I can finally enjoy my favorite fall treat without any of that ruthless desert heat.

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Serve it in a waffle cone, or as a sundae topped with a freshly-toasted marshmallow, or even turn it into ice cream sandwiches by pressing the ice cream comfortably  between to graham crackers (a quick dip into some melted chocolate doesn’t hurt, either).

Along with the unveiling of our third Jeni’s Spinalong is an announcement. When you take an over-achiever like Shannon and combine her with an indecisive person like myself what you end up with is a recipe list a million miles long and only 4 installments to shove them into. So, without further adieu, we announce that we will finish out 2015 with MONTHLY installments of the Jeni’s Spinalong series! Aren’t you thrilled?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go buy some stretchy pants.

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S’mores Ice Cream

Ingredients

    For the ice cream base:
  • 2 2/3 cups whole milk
  • 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 ounces (4 Tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped graham crackers
  • Mix-ins
  • 2 to 3 cups marshmallows, toasted
  • Salty Graham gravel (recipe below)
  • Chocolate shell (recipe below), syrup , or fudge sauce
  • Chocolate shell:
  • 12 ounces chocolate of your choice, chopped (Hershey's for authentic "S'more" flavor!)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • Salty graham gravel:
  • 1 cup finely ground graham crackers (about 13 crackers)
  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons fine seasalt
  • 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

    For the ice cream base:
  1. In a small bowl or ramekin, whisk 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the softened cream cheese with the salt until smooth.
  3. Fill a large bowl with ice water, set aside.
  4. In a large 4-quart saucepan, mix together the remaining mil, cream, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring o a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes.
  5. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch-milk slurry.
  6. Return the pan to the heat and return to a boil, stirring with a spatula, for about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Be careful, it might try to boil over
  7. Carefully whisk a bit of the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining hot milk mixture and graham crackers and stir to combine Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes while the graham crackers dissolve.
  8. Working in batches, pour the ice cream through a sieve, pressing the graham crackers through with a spatula. Continue until all of the liquid has been pressed through the sieve. Transfer to a gallon-size Ziploc bag and close the bag.
  9. Submerge the bag in the ice water until cold, about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes you may spin the ice cream, or dry off the bag with a towel and store it in the fridge until you are ready to spin (u to 1 day).
  10. For the gravel:
  11. Preheat oven to 275F.
  12. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
  13. Combine everything except the butter in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
  14. dd the melted butter and stir until large clumps have formed and the mixture resembled wet sand, ensuring all of the mixture is moistened.
  15. Pour the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and spread evenly.
  16. Bake for 10 minutes and remove the pan from the oven. Toss the crumbs with a spatula to break them into smaller pieces and return the sheet to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the gravel is golden brown.
  17. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
  18. Make the magic shell
  19. Combine dark or white chocolate and coconut oil in a medium metal bowl; set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate is almost melted.
  20. Remove from heat and continue stirring until completely melted and smooth.
  21. **Or you can melt it in 30 second intervals at 50% power in the microwave, but be very careful not to burn it!**Also, you can buy magic shell at the store because I mean, come on, you're already making everything else.
  22. Let cool slightly (if it’s too hot, it’ll melt your ice cream), 10–15 minutes.
  23. Toast the marshmallows
  24. Line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat your oven's broiler to high.
  25. Place marshmallows in one layer on the parchment and broil just a briefly until toasted.
  26. Set marshmallows aside to cool slightly.
  27. TIME TO SPIN!
  28. When ready, pour the ice cream base into your ice cream machine and spin according to manufacturer's directions. Once it reaches something akin to soft serve, you're ready to package it.
  29. **HERE YOU HAVE A CHOICE** I layered my chocolate shell, but it will be much easier to scoop if you drizzle it in during the last few seconds of spinning (you don't have to use all of it). This breaks it up into tiny flecks of ice cream that melt as soon as they hit your tongue. If you're using fudge or a liquid sauce, DO NOT mix it in, or it will just mix into your ice cream and not be swirled. Now, let's move on to packaging...
  30. Pour a bit of ice cream into your container (mine filled about 4 to 5 cups of space, so I used two containers). Top with a layer of graham gravel and some toasty marshmallows. Drizzle with your magic shell (unless you mixed that in at the last minute of spinning, in which case, good for you!)
  31. Add another layer of ice cream, gravel, mallows, and chocolate and end with a final layer of ice cream.
  32. Press a piece of parchment against the top of the ice cream and close with a tightly-fitting lid. Place in the coldest part of your freezer for at least 4 hours to firm up. Once firm, you can have more fun!

Notes

Want s'more cones? Pour a tablespoon or two of magic shell into the bottom of a sugar cone and swirl around to coat the inside of the shell. Place the cone upside down over parchment-lined baking sheet until the shell hardens. Then stuff some toasted marshmallows, graham gravel, and ice cream into the cone. Top with a scoop of ice cream and Macgyver a way to keep this contraption upright in your freezer (my contraption is a mix of foil and plastic wrap stretched tightly over a tupperware container. I poke holes in the foil and shove the ice cream cone in. It's not pretty but it sort of works. I have a bottom-style freezer so I usually forget to be gentle when closing and end up with ice cream smeared on the wall of my freezer anyway (oops?). ANYWAY, after about an hour in the freezer, remove the ice cream cones from the freezer and dip them into the chocolate shell mixture - two coatings is ideal. Sprinkle with some gravel and return the cone to your Macgyvered contraption for another hour or so.

Want a s'more ice cream sandwich? Smear bottom of your grahams with some chocolate shell (or don't!) and set aside to harden. Press some toasted marshmallow on the graham (or not, it's in the ice cream too, remember!) and add a scoop of slightly-softened ice cream. (If this is your main goal, maybe freeze the ice cream on a saran-lined baking sheet instead, and then you can cut it into squares? I've never tried it but it seems like it should work). Anyway, from here you want to gently press the second graham on top and quickly wrap it tightly in saran wrap, pressing again to try to form some good angles at the edges. Place back into the freezer for another hour or so, then remove for an optional dip into some magic shell. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet (that will fit into your freezer) and return to the freezer another hour. Remove and wrap in plastic wrap and/or foil for storage. I recommend freezing them overnight before eating.

https://wee-eats.com/2015/09/01/jenis-spinalong-3-smores-ice-cream/

[ ice cream base & gravel adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Desserts ]

[ chocolate shell from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home ]

[ Check out Shannon’s recipe here! ]

2 thoughts on “Jeni’s Spinalong #3 – S’mores Ice Cream with Toasted Marshmallow and Fudge Ripple

  1. it’s a good thing i wear stretchy pants every dang day. I’ve been waiting for this post! Like in a very real way because we’ve been discussing out Spinalong offerings for what seems like weeks now, and i’m just thrilled we got them out. I can’t wait to do monthly Spin posts! Terrified, also, but excited.

    i suppose i’ll just pop that ice cream maker in the freezer now. s’mores ice cream should NEVER have to wait.

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