S’mores Ice Cream

I’d never, ever eaten marshmallow fluff before this ice cream.  I bought a jar of it nearly a year ago when I was planning on making a particular cake recipe that I never got around to making. Then this past weekend, I decided to clean out my food cupboards and realized the fluff was set to expire in like 10 seconds.  (Did  you know that stuff expired?  I assumed it to be imperishable, much like Twinkies.)

I set out to find an easy recipe using the fluff.   Although I don’t necessarily find many of her recipes “easy,” I checked out Peabody’s blog because I knew I’d find something enticing there. Sure enough, she’d made mini s’mores ice box pies (so cute) using a marshmallow ice cream as her base. Peabody basically took David Lebovitz’s vanilla bean ice cream, added marshmallow fluff, upped the vanilla, and decreased the sugar.  (Did you see that last part? Have you known Peabody reduced the sugar in anything?!) I decided to use the marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream as a base for s’mores ice cream.  I added chopped chocolate bars, fudge ripple (to sort of mimic the melted chocolate in a s’more) and crushed graham crackers.  Voila!  A much cooler version of the warm campfire treat.

I only had one jar of fluff, which is 7.5 oz. and Peabody used 10 oz. in her ice cream.  The ice cream could have used a bit more marshmallow flavor, but I think one jar did the trick just fine.  This ice cream is pretty darn fabulous.  I only used a half  batch of fudge ripple (which is the quantity I have listed below) and I am pretty confident that Hershey’s bars have gotten a lot smaller than they used to be, so you may or may not want to add more chocolate, based on your preference.  I really loved this ice cream and would definitely make it again.

S’mores Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream (recipe follows)
2 milk chocolate bars, chopped
5 sheets (20 total) graham crackers, crumbled
Fudge ripple (recipe follows)

Fold the chocolate bar pieces and graham crackers into the marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream.

Scoop 1/3 of the ice cream in your freezer container.  Spoon half the fudge ripple over the ice cream, then put another layer of ice cream, followed the rest of the fudge ripple, and then the rest of the ice cream.

Freeze for a few hours before serving.

Marshmallow Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 jar marshmallow fluff

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt in a medium saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warmed milk, and then add the bean itself.  Cover the pan, remove from the heat, and let steep for 30-60 minutes.

If you’ve let the milk steep for longer than 30 minutes, gradually re-warm it.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl, and set a mesh strainer over the top.   In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Slowly add the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, and then scrape back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (don’t boil!).  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.  Add the vanilla bean and vanilla extract to the custard, and then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in your refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Place the just-churned ice cream at soft serve consistency in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat the marshmallow fluff into the ice cream until incorporated.

Fudge Ripple

1/4 cup sugar
2.5 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles at the edges.

Continue whisking until it gets to a low boil. Cook one minute, whisking frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Let cool and then chill in the refrigerator before using.

Marshmallow ice cream adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody / David Lebovitz; fudge ripple adapted from David Lebovitz