s'mores ice cream

With the homemade marshmallows we made oven s'mores, dipped them  in chocolate fondue and floated them  in hot chocolate.  Every variation was enjoyed.  I am excited to make them again for the holidays with a bit of peppermint and use in my snugglers!  We still had some left and I was debating between s'mores cookie bars and s'mores ice cream.  The combination of the 90 degree weather in November and my odd fascination with my ice cream maker pushed the scale toward ice cream.  I used a vanilla ice cream base from the perfect scoop.  It is a little more involved then the other ice creams I have made but, it is SO much better.  This ice cream is worth the process.  I am so glad that I have a go to vanilla bean ice cream. Everyone needs one of those in their cooking arsenal.   After the base was made I hand folded in the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.  This ice cream is good.  Brad said a few times I can't believe you made this.  It is that good but, I think I can make it even better by toasting the marshmallows slightly and melting the milk chocolate into a swirl.  Can't wait to try this again with the potential improvements.  YUM!

I am going to participate in my first blog event!  “Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Beanilla.”

s'mores ice cream
vanilla ice cream base: the perfect scoop

1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups graham crackers chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (~ 8 full sheets)
1 cup homemade marshmallows cut into 1/4 inch squares
1 cup finely chopped hershey's milk chocolate bars (~2.5 king size bars)


Prepare Ice Cream:


Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Transfer ice cream to a large bowl and slowly stir in the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. Transfer to freezer save container and freeze until hardened.