Chocolate Ribboned Peppermint Ice Cream Recipes

CHOCOLATE-RIBBONED PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM

Steps:

• For the chocolate sauce: Place butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk together sugar and cocoa. Once butter and chocolate are melted, slowly whisk in sugar/cocoa mixture. Heat over the pan of simmering (not boiling) water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Gradually whisk in cream until combined. Continue heating in the bowl over the simmering water for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the extracts. Pour into a container, cover, and chill in the refrigerator. For the ice cream:In a large bowl, whisk sugar with eggs and yolks for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of the half-and-half over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Slowly, whisk hot half-and-half into egg mixture. Pour entire mixture back into the pan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly for about 3-4 minutes, until thickened. The mixture will coat the back of a wooden spoon when thickened. Pour thickened mixture through a fine strainer and into a bowl. Whisk in remaining half-and-half, cream, and extracts. Cover bowl and chill until completely cooled, up to overnight. Before starting the ice cream process, take chocolate sauce out of the refrigerator and leave at room temperature. The sauce will be very thick but will lose some stiffness as it stands. Pour cream into an ice cream maker and process until almost finished. With about 2 minutes remaining in the cycle, add crushed peppermints. Spoon soft ice cream into containers, adding large dollops of chocolate sauce throughout. Press waxed paper onto the top of the containers and cover. Freeze for at least 4 hours or until scoopable.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM CAKE

Steps:

• For the crust: Cut the butter into pats and add to a medium heatproof bowl along with the chocolate chips. Place the bowl over 1 inch of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Once the butter and chocolate start to melt, stir to combine and remove from the heat. Finely crush the chocolate wafers in a food processor until it becomes a fine meal. In a large bowl, combine the wafer crumbs with the melted chocolate and blend until the crumbs are moistened. Reserve a heaping 1 cup crumb mixture in a small bowl. Press the remaining crumb mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch diameter springform pan with 3-inch high sides. Freeze 1 hour.
• For the glaze: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the cream and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and whisk until it melts. Set aside to cool until room temperature, about 1 hour.
• For the filling: Quickly mix the ice cream, crushed candies and extract in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until blended. Put half the ice cream mixture onto the frozen crust and spread out. Evenly scatter the reserved cookie crumbs over the ice cream in the springform pan, pressing the crumbs down gently. Pour half of the chocolate glaze over the cookie crumbles and ice cream Freeze for about 3 hours.
• When you about ready to repeat the layers, place the glaze back over low heat, just until pourable, but not warm. Remove the springform pan from the freezer and repeat with the remaining ice cream and glaze. Place back into the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Remove the cake from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving for easy removal of the springform sides. Release the pan sides and transfer the cake to a platter. Break off irregular pieces of the Candy Brittle and peel off the foil as you go. Press the brittle upright, candy side out, onto the top and sides of cake.
• In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar, 3/4 cup water and corn syrup until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 300 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
• Place a 24-inch long sheet of foil on your work surface. Be extremely careful, the syrup is extremely hot. Pour the boiling syrup in wide zigzag lines across the foil. Working quickly and using an oiled offset metal spatula, spread the syrup evenly onto the foil, leaving a 1-inch border. Immediately sprinkle with all the candies, pressing the larger pieces into the syrup to make sure they stick. Be careful not to touch the syrup. Cool completely.

CHOCOLATE AND PEPPERMINT CANDY ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Stir together ice cream (reserve pint container), extract, and 1/2 cup crushed candy in a bowl until combined.
• Transfer mixture to pint container and freeze until just firm enough to scoop, about 1 hour.
• Working very quickly, scoop ice cream onto flat sides of 8 wafers (1 scoop per wafer), then top with remaining 8 wafers, flat sides down. Wrap each sandwich individually with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Unwrap sandwiches and roll edges in remaining 1/2 cup crushed candy. Rewrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE-CHUNK ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Make chocolate chunks:
• Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
• Chop chocolate. In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and cool chocolate. Chop mints (largest pieces should be about 1/4 inch) and stir into chocolate. Spread chocolate mixture 1/4 inch thick on wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Chill chocolate mixture until firm, about 30 minutes. Coarsely chop chocolate mixture and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap. Chocolate chunks may be made 1 week ahead and chilled.
• In a heavy saucepan whisk together cream, milk, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and add mints. Bring mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly, and simmer, stirring constantly, 1 minute, or until mints are dissolved and mixture is thickened. Pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl and cool. Stir in extract and, if using clear mints, food coloring. Chill mixture, its surface covered with plastic wrap, at least 3 hours, or until cold, and up to 1 day.
• Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to a bowl and fold in chilled chocolate chunks. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.