I have a couple of reasons to be extraordinarily excited right now. For starters: look around! Welcome to the new and improved Kitchenette!
I’ve been longing to redesign the site for a while, but the timing never seemed quite right. Once I accepted that I’m never going to be less busy, I sat down and got to work. But the true work of this redesign was of course done by the most-awesome-best-hubs-ever, Josh, who takes my Photoshop things and magically turns them into working intrawebs things. I think there is coding involved. YAY HUBS! <3
The other reason I’m excited: ice cream!! And not any ice cream. The ice cream of the one-and-only Humphry Slocombe.
For the unfamiliar, Humphry Slocombe is an ice cream shop in San Francisco that’s known not only for superb ice cream, but really unique and mind-blowing flavors. And although many of their flavors are what some might call adventurous (see: White Miso Peach, Peanut Butter Curry, Government Cheese), plenty of them are just simple flavor combos done really freakin’ well.
Enter: Chocolate Smoked Salt.
Chocolate is not normally high on my list of ice cream choices. To me, they usually taste more like sugar than chocolate. So it’s a little odd that Chocolate Smoked Salt was one of the first flavors I had from the Slocombe, but I just can’t resist a good salty-sweet combo.
And SMOKED salt? Come on. I mean come on.
I’ve been putting smoked salt on everything since buying it for this ice cream. Blistered padrón peppers, grilled meats, toast with Nutella (!!!).
And of course, this ice cream.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s the best chocolate ice cream ever. It’s amazingly creamy, with the ideal chocolate to salt ratio!
Chocolate Smoked Salt Ice Cream
Recipe from Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book
Now, don’t be scared. This recipe looks long, but the Slocombe guys are just very descriptive. This is a good thing for ice cream, you know exactly what to look for before moving to the next step. Be sure to read the whole recipe and ready your ingredients before you start, some steps move fast!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 ounces dark chocolate (70%), chopped
- 1 tablespoon coarse smoked salt
Method
- In a large, heavy-bottomed, nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 3/4 cup of the sugar, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula and watching constantly. Continue cooking until the caramel takes on a deep amber color and is a smooth liquid, about 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn it, because it goes from being perfect to burnt very quickly.
- Immediately add the water to stop the cooking – but be careful because it will splatter. Reduce the heat to medium and stir until smooth. Add the cream and milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is hot but not boiling.
- Fill a large bowl or pan with ice and water. Place a large clean bowl in the ice bath and fit the bowl with a fine-mesh strainer. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 1 cup sugar until well blended.
- Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Slowly pour about half of the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer the yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture and return it to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula and being sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan so it doesn’t scorch, until the liquid begins to steam and you can feel the spatula scrape against the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Just toward the end of cooking the custard, whisk in the cocoa powder. At this point, whisk constantly until finished, because cocoa burns very easily. When the custard is done, remove from the heat.
- Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the hot custard over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the clean bowl you set up in the ice bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally.
- When the custard has totally cooled, cover the bowl tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. When you are ready to freeze the custard, transfer it to an ice cream maker and spin according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Right after spinning, fold in the smoked salt. Eat immediately, or transfer to an airtight container, cover, and freeze for up to 1 week.
Yields
1 quart
