Spicy Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
 
 
This ice cream is unlike anything I've ever had. It’s spicy and sweet, hot and cold, and blissfully creamy. It skips nothing in terms of heavy cream and half-and-half, but you really only need one scoop. I promise! The recipe is adapted from the wonderful Rick Bayless
by:
Serves: Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
  • 1 large pasilla negro chile, stemmed and seeded
  • 1⅓ cups half-and-half
  • 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
  • Cinnamon
  • Nutmeg
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1⅓ cups heavy cream
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons Kahlua
Instructions
  1. In a small skillet heated over medium, toast the chile, pressing it flat against the skillet with a metal spatula until it is very aromatic, about 10 seconds per side. Place in a small saucepan, add the half-and-half, chocolate, a few dashes of cinnamon, and some freshly grated nutmeg, and heat over medium until steaming (but not boiling). Cover and let steep for 10 minutes, then pour into a blender jar and process until the chile is pureed.
  2. Set up a 4-quart saucepan, filled halfway with water. Bring the pot of water to a boil over high heat while you're preparing the custard base.
  3. In a 3-quart stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, then whisk in the chile-infused chocolate mixture. Reduce the temperature under the pot of boiling water to maintain a gentle simmer. Set the bowl of custard base over the simmering water and whisk frequently, scraping down the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens noticeably, about 5 minutes. The custard is sufficiently cooked when it reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. (You can also test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the custard, then running your finger through the custard: if the line holds clearly, the custard has thickened sufficiently.)
  4. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice. Nestle a smaller bowl into the ice and pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl in the ice bath. Whisk the mixture until it is completely cool. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
  5. Stir the heavy cream, vanilla and Kahlua into the base. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions. Scrape into a freezer container and freeze for several hours to firm.
Recipe by Three Many Cooks at https://threemanycooks.com/recipes/sweet-treats/spicy-mexican-chocolate-ice-cream/