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I’d like to declare that I now eat peanuts.  I can hear my mom gasping from Long Island right now.  See, my aversion to peanuts (and tree nuts but not peanut butter!) started when I was 2 or 3.  My mom gave me some ice cream with nuts in it and I hated it.  The texture of nuts never appealed to me and quite frankly, I can’t say that I like nuts now enough to seek them out but I won’t always turn my nose up at them, as I’ve done for so many years.

This ice cream is a testament to how far I’ve come with my aversion.  I let Kyle pick a flavor to make last week and Tin Roof Sundae is what he chose.  I did a small internal grown about the peanuts in the recipe but decided to put my big girl pants on and not complain.  After all, the peanuts in this ice cream are coated with chocolate – how bad could they be?  Well, the chocolate-covered peanut clusters totally make this ice cream as fabulous as it is.  The recipe is written to use unsalted peanuts but since I had a vat of salted peanuts in the pantry, that’s what I used.  And let me tell you, the saltiness mixed with the sweet and creamy vanilla ice cream and the fudge ripple is absolutely perfect. Perfect.  I doubled the entire recipe and ended up with almost 2 cups of extra fudge ripple which I’ll use for another recipe in the future but if you double the recipe as well, I don’t suggest skimping on the peanuts – add all of them to ice cream and don’t look back!

Tin Roof Ice Cream
source: David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop

For the chocolate-covered peanuts:
4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup peanuts (Recommended: salted)

For the fudge ripple:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the ice cream:
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Stir chocolate until it is completely melted.  In the meantime, stretch a piece of plastic wrap over a dinner plate.  Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in the peanuts, coating them well.  Spread the mixture onto the plastic-lined plate and chill until set.  Use a chef’s knife to chop the chocolate-peanut block into bite-sized pieces.  Store in an airtight container until ready to use.  (I recommend keeping them chilled until you mix them into the ice cream.)

To make the fudge ripple, whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium-heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges.  Continue to whisk just until it comes to a low boil.  Cook for 1 minute, whisking often.  Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and let cool.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the ice cream batter, warm the milk, sugar, salt and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan, and add the pod as well to the hot mixture.  Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Rewarm the vanilla-infused mixture.  Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl with a fine mesh sieve set over the top.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then transfer the whole mixture back to the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, making sure to scrape the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream to cool.  Remove the vanilla bean, wipe it clean of any egg bits, and add it back to the custard mixture.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Place the bowl in an ice bath and stir until cool.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to freeze the ice cream, remove the vanilla bean.  Freeze the batter in the your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Fold the chocolate-covered peanuts into the ice cream until they are well-distributed. In the bottom of your ice cream storage container, add a layer of fudge ripple then pour in some of the ice cream.  Carefully layer the rest of the ice cream with large spoonfuls of fudge ripple between each ice cream layer. Try to avoid stirring the fudge ripple, as it will make the ice cream appear muddy.  Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.