Fig, Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice-Cream

Anybody know what happened to the rains?? And no, I am not talking about the insipid sprinkles that we saw sometime in the beginning of the month. I am talking about the all-encompassing, intemperate, unbridled, imprudent monsoons that should have come by now! I hate to sound like the English and talk about the weather but the thought of the impending monsoons was the only thing that got me through the miserable, soul sucking Summer. So, again, anybody know what happened to the rains??

 



Anyhow, between the late night football matches and the incessant complaining about the heat, I found myself a gem of a chocolate ice-cream recipe to get me through the days. You know those no-churn ice creams which I have tried with fresh fruit pulp.. well.. this time I added dark chocolate. And for added measure, some hazelnuts and figs dunked in coffee liqueur!!

 

And whoa.. I think I hit the jackpot! This was the darkest, creamiest, luscious, rich, intensely chocolaty chocolate ice-cream made without an ice-cream maker!  Imagine melding chocolate ice-cream with chocolate truffle with chocolate mousse, this ice-cream is that end product. The hazelnuts and boozy figs are a brilliant addition to this chocolate ecstasy blowout! Both pair brilliantly with the chocolate. The hazelnuts provide some textural crunch and the boozy figs.. well.. need no justification!

 

 

This is a soft serve ice-cream. Being quite rich and intense in flavour means a small scoop goes a long way. A tiny drizzle of the coffee liqueur on top ... happy days!!!

 

But, I'm still asking...anybody know what happened to the rains??



------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fig, Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice-Cream

serves 6 (the recipe can be doubled)
 

Ingredients:

• 200 gms condensed milk (In India, one can use 'Nestle' or 'Amul Mithai Mate')
• 200 mls double cream (I use Amul cream and it works just fine!!)
• 200 gms dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• a handful of hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup coffee liqueur (can be substituted with brewed coffee or even orange juice)
• 8-12 dried figs

Directions:

• Soak the figs in the coffee liqueur for 6 hours or overnight.
• Once soaked, the figs will become soft and plump. Remove the figs and chop them coarsely. Keep the liqueur aside to pour over the ice-cream when serving.
• Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside and cool to room temperature. It is important to cool the chocolate to room temperature before you add it to the condensed milk, else it might seize or become grainy.
• Place the cream and condensed milk in a bowl. Whisk them together with a hand blender, for approximately two minutes, until the mixture feels lighter and fluffier.
• Then add the chocolate with a hand whisk, blend it completely into the cream mixture.
• Stir in the chopped figs and hazelnuts so that it is evenly distributed through the mixture.
• Pour this mixture into an air tight container and freeze, preferably overnight.
• Serve straight from the freezer with a drizzle of some of the leftover coffee liqueur.