Tin roof ice cream: With its sweet cream base and fudge ripple this homemade ice cream is studded with chocolate-covered salted peanuts. The combination could not create a more fabulous summer treat!

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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 tin roof 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 fully admit to doing a small internal groan 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 let me tell you: the chocolate-covered peanut clusters totally make this tin roof 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. The result? The salty peanut mixed with the sweet, creamy vanilla ice cream and the fudge ripple is absolutely perfect. Perfect I tell you!!

Tin Roof Ice Cream

  • Prep Time: 30min (active) + about 12-18hrs (inactive chill time)
  • Cook Time: 10min (sauce) + 10min (ice cream base)
  • Yield: about 1 ½ quarts

Notes

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!

Ingredients

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

For the fudge ripple:
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
6 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ tsp vanilla extract

For the ice cream:
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 large egg yolks
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • 01

    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.)

  • 02

    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.

  • 03

    To make the ice cream batter, warm the milk, sugar, salt and ½ 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 (overnight is best).

  • 04

    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 6 hours.

adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

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Leave a Comment

  • Erin
    January 6, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    This is seriously one of my favorite ice creams ever. I just can’t get enough of the sweet and salty combo! I even add more peanuts than the recipe calls for because I’m such a big fan of them 🙂

  • January 6, 2011 at 2:53 PM

    My husband hates peanuts but also peanut butter… do you only like creamy peanut butter?

  • January 6, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    I’ve never heard this called a tin roof sundae! I have a gift card to WS that I plan on using to buy an ice cream attachment with!

  • January 6, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    I LOVE tin roof ice cream! I usually keep dry roasted peanuts on hand and chocolate syrup just in case we have vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Sometimes I even add broken pretzels with the peanut/chocolate syrup combination…heaven!

  • January 7, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    yum! i love Tin Roof! looks fantastic!

  • January 7, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    We bought a new house recently and the previous owner left his ice cream maker. We couldn’t return it to him, so we’ve been having fun with it. I can’t wait to try this recipe. My husband will love it!

  • January 7, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    I think I’ve forgotten about this flavor for the past 10 years, but now that you remind me of the chocolate covered peanuts and fudge ripple I might need to break out the ice cream machine.

  • January 7, 2011 at 12:32 PM

    I am not a huge fan of just straight up peanuts myself but they sound delicious used in this context! The base for your fudge ripple sounds really good too! I have been having a hard time finding a recipe that does not turn out tasting eggy. I am going to try your recipe!

  • January 7, 2011 at 12:54 PM

    I remember hearing of tin roof ice cream but couldn’t recall what it was. Fun to see! The salty-sweet combo sounds delicious!

  • January 7, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    Wow – if this is tin roof, I’m totally game. Think of all the doors open now for you with peanuts! =)

  • January 7, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    Oooh this looks good. I love nuts and chocolate together! Hooray for eating nuts now – I have peanut butter every day and can’t live without it 🙂

  • January 7, 2011 at 4:20 PM

    Nuts in ice cream is a MUST! 😀 This looks great!

  • January 7, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    Oh yum….looks so good. I do not like nuts in my ice cream, but this has changed my mind. 😉

  • January 7, 2011 at 4:50 PM

    I just got an ice cream maker for Christmas…bookmarking this recipe to make it as soon as possible!!

  • January 8, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Yum yum!! I got David’s book for Christmas, and this is at the top of my list to make. Plus I have peanuts that need to be eaten. Now to get to the store for the rest of the ingredients.

  • January 9, 2011 at 1:29 AM

    Very Impressive! Yummy!

  • January 9, 2011 at 3:00 PM

    YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM.

  • January 10, 2011 at 9:18 PM

    Love Tin Roof ice cream…especially from Blue Bell!

  • January 12, 2011 at 12:07 PM

    This is one of the best recipes in his book! And I’ve spent more time on your blog this morning than doing anything else. Really, the food and pictures are absolutely gorgeous. You know… just in case 10 other people haven’t also told you that recently 🙂