Jane’s Sweets & Baking Journal -- janessweets.blogspot.com -- July 2011

Milk-Chocolate Moose Tracks Ice Cream

with Milk-Chocolate Ganache and Mini Peanut Butter Cups

8 oz. milk chocolate (with at least 30 percent cocoa solids), finely chopped (I used Trader Joe's brand milk chocolate; comes in a very big bar and has, I think, 33% cocoa solids. Not expensive, but nice  flavor. It's a good bargain to use for everyday baking, etc.)

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 and 1/2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use cane sugar when I make ice cream. Has better flavor, I feel, and they say it has fewer impurities than beet sugar.)

1 large pinch of salt (I used coarse kosher salt.)

4 large egg yolks

2 tsp. Kahlua (coffee flavored liqueur)

1/2 cup mini peanut butter cups (I used Trader Joe's brand for these, too. Yummy.)

1/2 cup milk-chocolate ganache, at room temperature (See separate recipe for ganache below.)

In a large metal bowl set atop a saucepan of simmering water, heat the chopped milk chocolate and the heavy cream. Stir gently, heating until the chocolate is completely melted. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, using care to get no water into the bowl. Set the bowl aside and place a clean mesh strainer close to it.

Set up an ice bath by placing ice cubes and cold water in a large shallow bowl. This will be used to cool down your egg-based ice cream mixture before it goes in the fridge. Have the ice bath ready and waiting before you start the next steps.

In a medium size saucepan over low heat, warm up the whole milk, sugar, and salt. While they're warming, in a medium size bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Pour the warm milk mixture slowly into the yolks, whisking constantly. Then quickly scrape this mixture back into the saucepan with a flexible spatula.  Over medium heat, stir constantly, just until it thickens and can coat the spatula. Be very careful not to over-thicken this mixture. It should be very pourable; you don't want it to look like thick pudding at this point.

Place the mesh sieve over the bowl of melted chocolate and cream. Pour the heated mixture quickly into the mesh sieve, urging it through with your spatula as needed. Stir to combine the two mixtures. Add in the Kahlua to combine. This is now your ice cream mixture.

Place the ice cream mixture, still in its bowl, atop the waiting ice bath, being careful not to let any water get into it. Stir it now and then to help it cool down. When it's at least room temperature cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least several hours or overnight.

Make the milk chocolate ganache at least an hour or more before you plan to churn your ice cream in your ice cream maker. The ganache needs to be at about room temperature so you can spread it quickly into your just-churned ice cream.

To make the milk chocolate ganache, and finish making your ice cream:

4 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped (I used the same type of chocolate that I used for the ice cream mix.)

4 oz. heavy cream

Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream slowly in a small saucepan. When it's hot but not boiling, pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit undisturbed for a few minutes, then gently stir it until all of the chocolate has dissolved and the ganache is smooth and silky. Let the ganache cool uncovered until it reaches room temperature.

When you're ready to churn your ice cream, have on hand the ganache and the mini peanut butter cups. Churn the ice cream mix according to your ice cream maker's directions, then quickly spoon in dabs of the ganache, swirling it in as you go, and sprinkling in the peanut butter cups as evenly as you can manage. Freeze your churned ice cream overnight so it can fully ripen. (I prefer to keep my churned ice cream in a sturdy glass container that has a tight lid because it seems to freeze more evenly and quickly than when I do it in metal or plastic.)