Chocolate Almond Praline Gelato

Total Time: 8 hrs Preparation Time: 7 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 165 g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• vanilla liqueur (optional)
• 50 ml water
• 50 g almonds
• 250 g milk chocolate or 250 g dark chocolate

Recipe

• 1 in a mixmaster, or food processor with the whisk attachement(preferably mix master) add the egg yolks and 115g of the caster sugar, mix until light and fluffy.
• 2 add the cream and milk to a small saucepan along with the vanilla paste, place it on a low-medium heat until it simmers, it should take 3-4 minutes, stir occasionally.
• 3 while whipping the eggs, slowly pour in 1tbsp of the boiling cream mix at a time, it will thicken slightly,
• 4 when it is all combined pour it back into the saucepan and simmer on a low heat until it starts to boil, small lumps will begin to form, this is the egg yolk. remove it from the heat and pour it back into the mixer
• 5 blend on the highest speed for 2 minutes, this will whip in air, and break any clumps of egg and turn it into a smooth custard texture.
• 6 while the custard mix is whipping, melt the chocolate in a microwave for 1min at 80% power, take it out and stir it, you may need to do this one or two more times until it is completely smooth, be careful not to let it burn.
• 7 while still mixing the custard, slowly pour in the chocolate and blend for one more minute.
• 8 cover the mixing bowl in cling film then place it in the freezer.
• 9 cook the almonds in the oven for 5 minutes at 150c, dont let them burn then place them on nonstick paper and roughly chop them.
• 10 in a small nonstick frying pan, add the remaining 50g of caster sugar, and 50ml of water, place on a small burner with high heat,
• 11 this is best measured using a candy or meat themometer, failing that common sense will work.
• 12 stir the mixture as the sugar dissolves, the temperature will steadily rise to 100c, it will then stall as the water boils out, it will then quickly rise again.
• 13 it will start to brown around the edges, stir gently, after 1 more minute when the sugar should hit 155c remove it from the heat, it should be a uniform caramel brown colour, pour it over the chopped nuts and let it cool and harden for 20 minutes.
• 14 lightly dice the sugar mix and then put it in the food processor, traditionally praline is a very fine powder, personally for this recipe i like a mix of fine powder with a few small chunks of almonds and toffee, the difference is just in how long you blend it for.
• 15 remove the ice cream from the freezer and mix in the chopped nuts, and 1tbsp of almond liquer, mix thouroughly and return to the freezer.
• 16 every hour for the next 6 hours you will need to remove it from the freezer, blend it with a whisk (or whisk attachment) this breaks up any ice crystals forming and makes the mixture light and smooth.
• 17 after the 6 hours it should nearly be solid, scoop it into airtight containers and place it in the freezer for 4 more hours, this keeps for about a month.