In addition to making maple syrup and building maple syrup making machines I also make ice cream in the summer. Two summers ago I started making Aztec Chocolate Ice Cream. It is a cooked custard ice cream that includes cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne powder, and candied ginger. It starts cold, rich, and chocolate then burns your face off.
I love the stuff.
My wife won’t go near it.
Here is the recipe as a couple of people have asked for it.
MapleEngineer Aztec Chocolate Ice Cream
See NOTE at the end.
500 ml (2 c) 35% (whipping) cream
1 L (4 c) 10% (table) cream
1 c (85 g) Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/2 c (180 g) sugar
1 T (15 ml) vanilla (I use really good Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla in bourbon)
1/8 t (6 g) salt
1 1/2 t (2.7 g) ground cayenne
1 1/2 t (4 g) ground cinnamon
1/2 t (1.4 g) ground ginger
I put the 10% cream, sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder in a pot and heat it slowly to a simmer whisking slowly but constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Then I add the spices and salt and whisk slowly until well incorporated. Once everything is smooth I remove the pot from the heat, whisk in the heavy cream, put it in a container, and stick it in the friged, preferably overnight, to cool thoroughly.
Once it’s cool make it into ice cream.
This recipe produces what I think it a very nice, VERY rich (18% MF) chocolate ice cream with a nice burn.
NOTE: As a typical Canadian who grew up during the transition from Imperial to Metric measurements I still cook in Imperial units. Well…sort of. I measure the cream in Liters but everything else in t, T, and c. So, I’ve put the units that I use first with my best shot at converting them second. Be aware that I may have made a terrible mistake. I recommend measuring as I do. If anyone wants to correct these measurements I will update the recipe here.
That sounds a lot like the Tabasco Ice Cream you can get in Louisiana. It sounded like it would be aweful but we had to try it and it was actually pretty good. The dairy really dampens the heat and lets you get the actual flavor.
If anyone is in Louisiana I recommend going to Avery Island.
I’ve spent time in Louisiana but never ran into Tabasco ice cream. I will see if I can find it the next time I’m there.
I could probably adapt this recipe to include Tabasco instead of cayenne. Is it normally chocolate or do they do it over a vanilla base?
The stuff I had I think was on vanilla but they probably had both.
This was probably like 17 years ago so it’s possible they don’t do it any more but everyone had a positive reaction to it so I’d assume they still do.
While on the topic of spicy food in Louisianna, have you tried spicy boiled peanuts?
I don’t think that a Tabasco vanilla ice cream appeals to me. I really like the heat with chocolate and spices.
I have tried boiled peanuts but never spicy boiled peanuts. I was not a fan of the plain old boiled peanuts. It was like eating a bowl of boiled beans. I prefer dry roasted and salted.