Making your own ice cream is super fun for a few reasons. One, you feel like a total badass. Two, you can make it whatever flavour you like. And Three (or maybe two and a half), it's great for using up little extras you may have leftover from baking projects. It is a great way to use up cream. Extra chocolate can get stirred in, or maybe a handful of nuts. You can swirl in the little bit of peanut butter leftover, or add some fruit that is on it's last legs. Or, of course, you can make S'mores Ice Cream. S'mores Philadelphia Ice Cream, to be specific. (More on the Philadelphia part in a second).
This S'mores Philadelphia Style Ice cream came about after a day of making these S'mores Macarons. We were left with a bunch of weird shaped marshmallow pieces, and a couple of graham crackers, and S'mores on the mind. I had been meaning to try out a Philadelphia style ice cream for a while. Philadelphia style differs from 'traditional' ice cream base, in that it doesn't use any egg yolks. This means that it is much easier to prepare, and gives you a lighter ice cream both in colour and in taste - anglaise ice cream is amazing too, but it can get kind of intense, and is often a creamy colour, as opposed to this Philadelphia Style, which is white due to the absence of the egg yolks. Both types of ice cream have their place, but I have a feeling Philadelphia Style is going to definitely become a part of the repertoire from here on out. I loved how easy it was to prepare, it didn't leave you with any extra whites (although an anglaise is my fave way to use up eggs), and I loved the taste it produced. It's as easy as no churn ice cream to prepare (although does require the use of an ice cream machine), but in my opinion, tastes far far better. Philadelphia Style is the new no churn. I'm calling it.
Because the ice cream base was so easy to make, putting together this ice cream was stupid simple. All I did was churn the ice cream, then layer with the marshmallow pieces, which I lightly toasted, some graham cracker chunks, and some chopped chocolate. All you have to do is layer it lasagna style, freeze until solid, and you are good to go. I used homemade marshies but store bought would 100% work perfectly here too, and make the process even easier. If you haven't ventured into homemade ice cream before, this would be a great place to start.
A few wee tips:
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There aren't many ingredients in this, so for the base, if possible, use the best quality ingredients that you can.
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This is 100% customisable - add whatever you like to it!
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Ice Cream makers seem like a weird investment but I promise you, once you make your first batch you're going to be hooked! I just have the one which connects to my Kitchenaid, but the counter top ones work great too.
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Don't forget to freeze your ice cream bowl ahead of time
S'mores Philadelphia Style Ice Cream
- Makes one litre / one quart / one loaf pan worth -
Ice Cream Base Slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop
Ice Cream Base
500ml (2 cups) heavy Cream
250ml (1 cup) whole Milk
150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
S'mores Mix-ins
175g marshmallows, cut into large chunks (I used homemade, recipe can be found here)
4 graham crackers, broken into pieces
100g chocolate, chopped (I used Chocolate squares, broken into pieces)
- PROCESS -
Combine 250ml (1 cup) of the Cream, Sugar, and salt in a small pot, and heat over low heat, stirring gently, until warmed through and the sugar has dissolved.
Remove from the heat and add the rest of the cream, the milk, and vanilla bean paste. Transfer to a container, and place in the refrigerator until completely cool.
Place a loaf pan or whatever vessel you are going to use to freeze the ice cream in the freezer (A loaf pan works well for layering).
Churn the ice cream base in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is churning, place the marshmallows evenly on a heat proof surface, and toast using a blow torch. Transfer to the freezer.
Remove the loaf pan and marshmallows from the freezer once the ice cream base has finished churning. Layer about a third of the ice cream in the bottom of the pan. Top with a third of the marshmallow, dotting evenly across the surface, then crumble a graham cracker in fairly large chunks and add. Add about a third of the chocolate, distributing evenly. Top with the second third of the ice cream, and add more marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate. Add the final third of ice cream, and top with the remaining mix in ingredients. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer until totally frozen, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
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