Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Almond Tuiles
Summer break. Finally. You can always count on sunny afternoons floating in the pool. Your inner tube hovering just above the water, like it’s elevating you above all responsibilities.
The sun beats down to revitalize each body cell with a healthy dose of vitamin D. Naturally, you’ve slathered on the SPF 50 so you can bathe in the sunlight without worry.
Once your toes are sufficiently wrinkled and your floaty is starting to lose buoyancy, it’s the perfect time for a summer snack.
For a majority of the year, I’m not really an ice cream person; I much rather bake up a cake or a batch of cookies. But once summer hits, I can hardly wait to pull out the ice cream maker. Something about fresh summer flavors and blistering heat always gets me in the ice cream mood.
During the winter I picked up an ice cream cook book, Sorbets and Ice Creams, (pictured two photos above) at an estate sale from a house that looked like it hadn’t been touched since 1968. The kitchen was complete with an avocado green Frigidaire and retro Pyrex bowls. Fortunately, such estate sales often hold many fun and interesting cook books.
Now that it’s finally summer, I searched through Sorbets and Ice Creams and decided this dark chocolate one was a good starter recipe. I splurged and bought high-quality Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate, which I highly recommend for an enticing chocolate flavor.
While the ice cream was freezing away, I decided it needed a complimentary crunchy cookie as well. I quickly decided on these tuiles, French for “tiles” because they look similar to the curved tiles often used on roofs. I was surprised at how easy they were to make, and the almond meal created a perfect nutty texture. 
After the tuiles are done baking, let them sit 1-2 minutes. Then, gently remove them from the pan and form around a rolling pin until set, about 10 seconds. Pretty easy for an elegant cookie!
Welcome summer with the quintessential seasonal treat!
Print this recipe here.
Makes 1 Quart
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 5 egg yolks, beaten
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
In a double boiler, heat the half-and-half over barely simmering water until scalded. Whisk the sugar into the egg yolks. Whisk in some of the hot half-and-half, return this mixture to the double boiler, and cook over barely simmering water, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the spoon. Stir the chocolate into the custard until the chocolate melts. Immediately place in a pan of cold water, and stir to cool to room temperature. Stir the cream and vanilla into the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze the ice cream until hardened, 2 to 3 additional hours.
Makes 30-36 cookies
- 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 6 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup pecans or almonds, chopped finely (I used ground almond meal)1 1/2 tsp. heavy cream
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a nonstick baking sheet liner or parchment paper. Bring the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup just to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat; beat in the vanilla, salt, flour, nuts, and cream until smooth. Drop 6 rounded teaspoons of batter at 3-inch intervals onto the prepared baking sheet. For larger cookies, substitute a tablespoon for the teaspoon and estimate 5 cookies per sheet.
Bake the cookies until they are spread thin, deep golden brown, and no longer bubbling, 6 to 7 minutes. Let the cookies cool and firm up slightly on the baking sheet, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully remove a cookie and lay it over a rolling pin or a wine bottle set on its side so that the cookie forms a gentle curve. Hold the cookie in place until it is set, about 10 seconds, then let it cool on a wire rack. Quickly repeat with the remaining cookies on the baking sheet. Continue dropping batter onto the hot baking sheet and repeat the baking and forming process.