mexican hot chocolate ice cream
My BFF Natasha Feldman is a great chef (check out her site, Nosh with Tash), and she periodically hosts a fun game on Instagram called Mystery Nosh. It’s like Chopped, three contestants get a box with mystery ingredients and they have to make something fun with it. This round, I got to play and it was THE BEST. Our box had mini pretzels, red chili flakes, and honey sticks. As soon as I saw the mystery ingredients, of course I thought ICE CREAM. (if you want to see my whole process via Instagram Story, it’s in my highlights, click here!)
I love when sweet, salty, and spicy flavors come together in desserts, so when I saw the honey and the chili flakes, a cup of spicy, cinnamon-y Mexican hot chocolate came to mind. I’d never had these flavors in ice cream before, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. And while pretzels aren’t a typical mix in with Mexican hot chocolate, I love the crunch and saltiness they bring to this recipe, I definitely think they make it go from good to great.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Ice Cream (With Pretzels!)
Ingredients:
Ice Cream Base:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
Chocolate Ice Cream:
1 teaspoon flaky salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (you can definitely use Mexican chocolate here, but I wasn’t able to get my hands on any)
1 tablespoon red chili flakes (double or triple this if you want it super spicy!)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1 cup mini pretzels, slightly crushed
Directions:
To make the ice cream base, combine the sugar, dry milk powder, and guar gum in a small bowl and stir well. Pour the honey and the milk into a medium pot and whisk to combine. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and whisk vigorously until smooth. Turn the heat on to medium and heat the mixture, whisking often until the sugar has fully dissolved, about three minutes (turn the heat down if the mixture starts to simmer, you don’t want this).
Add the cream and whisk until well combined. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate until fully chilled, a minimum of six hours, but a full day is best.
Once the base is fully chilled, it’s time to make your ice cream! In a medium saucepan, heat 1/4 cup water, the salt, sugar, red chili flakes, and cinnamon sticks over medium high until it begins to lightly bubble. Turn the heat off and allow the mixture to sit and steep for a few minutes. Strain the red pepper flakes and cinnamon sticks out, and return the flavored syrup to the pan. Add in three ounces of the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is smooth and melted. Let this cool to room temperature.
Remove your ice cream base from the fridge and whisk it into the cooled chocolate. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn until it has the texture of soft serve.
While the mixture is churning, melt the other 2 oz of chocolate and the coconut oil together in a small bowl (I like to use a microwave if you have one, just heat it in 30 second intervals and stir in between). If you’d like, add a little grate of cinnamon (you can use the sticks from before) and a pinch of cayenne pepper for more heat. Mix well to combine.
When the ice cream is soft-serve consistency, slowly stream in the melted chocolate while it continues to churn. Once you’ve added all of the chocolate, turn the machine off and scoop it into a freezer-friendly container (I like to use a glass pyrex snap-top container). In between layers, sprinkle a small handful the semi-crushed pretzels. Once you’ve scooped all of the ice cream in, cover with a layer of parchment (press it onto the top of the ice cream), cover with the lid, and allow to freeze until firm (I like to let it freeze overnight).
Feel free to top with more pretzel bits and flaky sea salt before serving.
note: this recipe is an adaptation of the Salt & Straw freckled chocolate woodblock recipe, I made a lot of changes, but it definitely helped guide me!
