Nutella Ice Cream

Jillian knows almost everything there is to know about France, based on a week-long 8th grade class trip. Over the years, she has been passing that volume of wisdom on to me. I know, for example, how to ask “Where is the W.C.,” in perfectly-inflected, completely native-sounding French. I know that I prefer a savory crepe to a sweet one. I know that the French think the Eiffel Tower is kinda crass. Finally, I also know that when they’re not feeding wine to babies, the French like to smear Nutella onto a fresh, crusty baguette for breakfast, served with a tiny cup of very strong coffee. So that’s France.

This was the first ice cream we made in our new ice cream maker, and it’s dead simple. No cooking, no eggs, and no trouble. Don’t panic when you see that you have used almost an entire jar of Nutella. This isn’t health food. But the heavy, rich flavor of the Nutella, which I can find a little overwhelming, softens wonderfully when combined with tons of additional sugar, cream and milk. Add just a touch of vodka to keep the ice cream from freezing too hard; the alcohol keeps it perfectly spoon-ready.

Nutella Ice Cream
Adapted from a recipe on Sugarlaws

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Nutella
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vodka

Method:

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, and beat with electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Process in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions, and then freeze in freezer for four more hours before serving. Top with chopped, toasted hazelnuts. Makes about 4 cups.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1rhHaKH8HM[/video]

Tagged as: ice cream, nutella

About the Author: Malcolm Bedell

My first memories of cooking start in Maine at six years old, when I wore a yellow rainslicker to avoid getting spattered by the bacon I was frying in a skillet. My interest in both Mexican cooking and recreating classic New England dishes from scratch developed while living in Mexico, on a steady diet of pork and habanero peppers. You can see more of my writing and photography online on Serious Eats, the Huffington Post, BlogHer, and Foodista, as well as in print for Downeast, Indulge, and Cigar Snob magazines.