Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

Happy 4th of July! 

Today I'm going straight for the good stuff.  Sweet, delicious ice cream.  Peanut butter ice cream with fudge ripple swirled throughout, no less.  This is something I'm fairly certain you NEED in your life.  Unless you don't like peanut butter and chocolate together.  Then you should seek counseling immediately.  Because this is a flavor combination that makes one's life complete (unless you are allergic to peanuts...then you already probably stopped reading this)!

I saw this recipe on my pal Tracey's blog and instantly knew this would be the first ice cream churned of the summer at my house.  It was.  And it was pretty darn fantastic.  The ice cream base delivers on a solid peanut butter flavor.  The fudge ripple brings just the right amount of chocolate to balance the peanut butter.  Very creamy, peanutty and fudgy.  All good things in my book!

The ice cream didn't last long here.  In fact I barely had enough to squeak out some photos.  Most of it disappeared after we had my nephew and his fiancé over to watch the Blackhawks vs. Bruins game two Stanley Cup hockey game--yeah I'm a little late posting this!  I have to detour a bit from the ice cream and talk about hockey...

Hubs and I aren't too big into sports.  We occasionally watch things like the Super Bowl or World Series, but rarely follow a team.  Except when a Chicago team is the running for playoffs Hubs gets into it showing a little love for his hometown.  We started watching the NHL playoff series and low and behold the Chicago Blackhawks kept in it all the way to win the western conference and moved on to the Stanley Cup finals where they defeated the Boston Bruins (sorry Tracey!) and won the cup! We had a blast watching the games (and make food for the games).  It's safe to say we are officially hooked on hockey and are looking forward to the start of the next season in the fall. 

Back to the ice cream.

It's really delicious.  Enough said.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Ice Cream
from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones via Tracey's Culinary Adventures

For the fudge ripple
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Start by making the fudge ripple.  In a small sauce pan combine sugar, water, cocoa powder, corn syrup and salt.  Heat on medium/high until the mixture comes to a simmer, whisking frequently.  Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate and allow to sit for one minute.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Transfer to a heat proof container and refrigerate until fully chilled.

For the peanut butter ice cream
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup sugar divided in two
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large egg yolks
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (I used regular Skippy)
1/4 to 1/3 cup fudge ripple

Make the ice cream by adding heavy cream, milk and half the sugar to a medium saucepan and place on medium heat.  Stir to combine and allow the cream mixture to just come to a simmer.

While the cream is heating, whisk egg yolks and remaining sugar in a medium heatproof bowl until pale.

In another medium heatproof bowl (large enough to hold all the ice cream mixture) add the peanut butter and set aside. 

When the cream mixture comes to a simmer, remove from the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the egg mixture, whisking continuously (you don't want your eggs to scramble!).  Add the cream/egg mixture back to the saucepan and return heat to medium/low.  Stir frequently until the mixture thickens slightly and the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 170 - 175.  The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. 

Strain the mixture into the bowl with the peanut butter.  Stir to combine the peanut butter until the cream is smooth and peanut butter is fully incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours, or overnight until mixture is fully chilled. 

Churn peanut butter ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer instructions.  Transfer ice cream to a freezer proof airtight container, adding drizzles of fudge ripple along the way.  Add as much or little as you like to suit your taste.  Swirl the fudge using a butter knife.  Cover and return to the freezer until firm, about 4 hours.