Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I've made more ice cream this year than probably the rest of my life combined, but I had yet to make chocolate ice cream. Perhaps vanilla ice cream sounded a bit easier than chocolate, but if you know me, you know chocolate is an essential in my life. So, when I hit upon Brown Eyed Baker's recipes for Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, I knew I had to combine the two into the most insanely delicious chocolate peanut butter heaven.

I'm tempted to make all the rest of my heavy cream into this ice cream and eat it by the bowlful, but I'll try to show some restraint. This is every bit as decadent and wonderful as any purchased chocolate peanut butter ice cream I've consumed ... and trust me, I've consumed more than my fair share.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
3 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 oz. bittersweet semisweet chocolate
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Patties (see recipe below)
Peanut Butter Swirl
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
Peanut Butter Patties
6 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

While the custard cools, make the peanut butter swirl. Combine the peanut butter, whipping cream, corn syrup, and the brown sugar in a small saucepan saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring, until smooth and sugar is dissolved. Transfer to an airtight container.

Chill both the custard and the peanut butter swirl thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

To make the peanut butter patties, mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap. Pinch off small pieces of the peanut butter mixture, about 1/2 teaspoon each, and drop them onto the dinner plate. Once you’ve used all of the mixture, freeze the patties.

Freeze the custard mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.) During the last two minutes, add in the peanut butter patties. When packing the ice cream into its container, alternate layers of the ice cream and peanut butter swirl, ending with the ice cream.