RECIPE

Rocky Road Ice Cream

October 30, 2020
[ SKIP TO RECIPE ]
When you hear that music jingle down the road in the summer, do your eyes light up with excitement?

Why yes… of course you do. Who doesn’t like ice cream? (Don’t answer that if you don’t.)

Ice cream is easily one of the most common foods associated with my childhood. Growing up in Hong Kong, ice cream was a constance after dinner during the hot summer nights. There’s a 24-hour convenient store just steps away from the entrance to our apartment building. We would go there after dinner, choose our mini ice cream cups or ice cream bars from the freezer and eat them just outside the store in front of the MTR station. Occasionally, you could also find mini ice cream cups sold by some random aunty or uncle outside the school during after school hours on the street.

When my family moved back to Toronto, we would hear the ice cream truck approaching our area. Sometimes they would park just outside the high school across from our condo serving the hungry teenagers, or they would drive into our compound where many of our neighbours and children will get our frozen treats.

This frozen confectionary has always been something I’ve had in my life, and little did I know, after I graduated from university, I would proceed to work for a company that franchises frozen yogurt and ice cream for 5 years! It was then that I acquired even more fondness for ice cream. Despite having tried many types and flavours professionally and for leisure, my preference is always the flavours with chocolate – chocolate mint, chocolate orange, cherry glacier (hello, Ben & Jerry’s), moose tracks…

This past summer, having been locked in, I decided to make our own ice cream. Because I haven’t seen it sold in the grocery stores I shop at, I decided to make Rocky Road. The crunch of the almonds, the gooey marshmallow bits and the creamy chocolate ice cream… What’s not to like? To make this, I used the Donvier Ice Cream Maker gifted by my aunt when I was still a young child. It’s a 1-pint “instant” ice cream maker, meaning it takes about 30 minutes to churn your chilled ice cream mixture into ready-to-eat ice cream! Very strange little thing but works great. I personally dislike very soft/melty ice cream, so I chilled the churned ice cream before I struggled (with patience) to scoop out the rock-hard ice cream straight out the the freezer.

This recipe is an adaptation of William Sonoma’s version. I adjusted the ratio a bit and replaced walnuts with almonds. I’ve also added almond extract for an extra almond-y fragrance.

 

When you hear that music jingle down the road in the summer, do your eyes light up with excitement?

Why yes… of course you do. Who doesn’t like ice cream? (Don’t answer that if you don’t.)

Ice cream is easily one of the most common foods associated with my childhood. Growing up in Hong Kong, ice cream was a constance after dinner during the hot summer nights. There’s a 24-hour convenient store just steps away from the entrance to our apartment building. We would go there after dinner, choose our mini ice cream cups or ice cream bars from the freezer and eat them just outside the store in front of the MTR station. Occasionally, you could also find mini ice cream cups sold by some random aunty or uncle outside the school during after school hours on the street.

When my family moved back to Toronto, we would hear the ice cream truck approaching our area. Sometimes they would park just outside the high school across from our condo serving the hungry teenagers, or they would drive into our compound where many of our neighbours and children will get our frozen treats.

This frozen confectionary has always been something I’ve had in my life, and little did I know, after I graduated from university, I would proceed to work for a company that franchises frozen yogurt and ice cream for 5 years! It was then that I acquired even more fondness for ice cream. Despite having tried many types and flavours professionally and for leisure, my preference is always the flavours with chocolate – chocolate mint, chocolate orange, cherry glacier (hello, Ben & Jerry’s), moose tracks…

This past summer, having been locked in, I decided to make our own ice cream. Because I haven’t seen it sold in the grocery stores I shop at, I decided to make Rocky Road. The crunch of the almonds, the gooey marshmallow bits and the creamy chocolate ice cream… What’s not to like? To make this, I used the Donvier Ice Cream Maker gifted by my aunt when I was still a young child. It’s a 1-pint “instant” ice cream maker, meaning it takes about 30 minutes to churn your chilled ice cream mixture into ready-to-eat ice cream! Very strange little thing but works great. I personally dislike very soft/melty ice cream, so I chilled the churned ice cream before I struggled (with patience) to scoop out the rock-hard ice cream straight out the the freezer.

This recipe is an adaptation of William Sonoma’s version. I adjusted the ratio a bit and replaced walnuts with almonds. I’ve also added almond extract for an extra almond-y fragrance.

This is an adaption of the original recipe by William Sonoma.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Yield: 1 pint
 
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup of milk (2% m.f.)
  • 1 cup of 35% whipping cream, divided into 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup
  • 1⁄4 cup of sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp of dutch-process cocoa powder (no added sugar)
  • 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate, in chip form or chopped
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract (preferably dark)
  • ½ tsp of almond extract
  • ⅓ cup of roasted almonds, chopped
  • ⅓ cup of mini marshmallow
 
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together with a whisk the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of whipping cream
  2. In a small saucepan, combine milk, the remaining 1/2 cup of whipping cream and sugar. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer to allow the sugar to dissolve, about 4 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid the mixture from boiling. Remove from heat.
  3. To make the custard, slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Add in bit by bit to avoid the hot mixture from scrambling the egg yolks. Once you’ve mixed in all the hot milk mixture, pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and continue to whisk.
  4. Over medium heat, cook the the mixture, while whisking, until it thickens into a custard, about 4 to 5 minutes. Do not let it boil. You can tell the custard is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  5. Remove the pan from heat. Add in the semisweet chocolate, and let it sit for a minute or so. Add in the vanilla extract and almond extract, and whisk until the chocolate custard is smooth.
  6. Pour the custard through a sieve into a clean bowl to make the mixture even more smooth. Discard any lump and solid bits in the sieve.
  7. Let the mixture cool to room temperate before refrigerating it covered. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  8. Follow your ice cream maker instructions to churn your ice cream. I use an old fashioned Donvier ice cream maker.
  9. About 2 to 3 minutes before the ice cream finished churning, add in the chopped almonds and marshmallow. In my case with the Donvier, I pour out the ice cream mixture a couple turns before it get too hard into a clean bowl, and mix in the chopped almonds and marshmallow by hand.
  10. Pour in the churned ice cream into a freezer safe container. I like to use a BPA-free plastic pint (reusable clear takeout container). Freeze it for at least 3 hours before consuming.
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