Dark Chocolate Truffle Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

When I decided it was time to make a new flavor of ice cream, I knew that I wanted to start with a vanilla ice cream base. The challenge was to decide what mix-ins to add- chocolate truffles, peanut butter patties, caramel sauce, fudge sauce…there were just too many good options! I finally decided to go with dark chocolate truffles and caramel sauce, and oh my this ice cream is fabulous. Brad and I both agreed that this is our favorite flavor of homemade ice cream that I’ve made so far.

To make the job of making homemade dark chocolate truffles, caramel sauce, and vanilla ice cream less daunting, I made each component on a different day. Creating each part by itself was a small task. I decided to use a non-custard based vanilla ice cream, because I didn’t want an overly rich result. The ice cream was very simple to make, with just cream, whole milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and a vanilla bean as the ingredients.  With the truffles and caramel mixed in it was just right.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

• Vanilla Ice Cream (recipe below)
• Dark Chocolate Truffles (recipe below)
• Caramel Sauce

Directions:

Immediately after churning the vanilla ice cream in your ice cream maker, gently mix in the chocolate truffles. Layer the ice cream mixture with the caramel sauce as you transfer it to a freezer-safe container. For best results, freeze in your freezer for a few hours before serving.

For the Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 3 cups heavy cream, or 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into a medium saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and add the pod to the pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove from the heat and add the remaining 2 cups cream (or 1 cup cream and 1 cup milk). Add the vanilla extract and stir gently to combine.
3. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean pod and then freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

For the Dark Chocolate Truffles

Makes forty 1/2-inch truffles*

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cognac, run, or other liquor or liqueur (I omitted this)

Directions:

1. Heat the cream with the corn syrup in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until it’s melted and the mixture is smooth.
2. Mix in Cognac. Scrape the mixture into a small bowl and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
3. Line a freezer-safe container with plastic wrap. Use a spoon to scrape off small bits of chocolate to form truffles, scraping the truffle mixture off with the other spoon. Freeze truffles until ready to use.

*I made my truffles a little smaller than this, and used about 2/3 of them in the ice cream. The rest I made into bigger truffles, some of which I rolled in cocoa powder and some in powdered sugar.

Recipes for Vanilla Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Truffles, and Caramel Sauce are from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz