Hazelnut Gianduja Ice Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Pulse hazelnuts with sugar and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a heavy medium saucepan with milk and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, 20 minutes.
• Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then return to cleaned saucepan.
• Put 1/4 cup milk mixture in a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch. Return to saucepan, then boil over medium heat 2 minutes, whisking often (mixture will be thick). Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until melted and incorporated. Chill, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours.
• Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and spread hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Let cool for about 10 minutes (or until cool enough to handle but still warm) and rub the nuts in a dish towel to remove most of the skins (some will cling and that's O.K.).
• In a medium bowl, melt together gianduja paste and butter, either over a pot with 1 inch of simmering water or in a microwave. Keep mixture warm.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the half-and-half, sugar, salt and vanilla bean to a simmer until the sugar melts, taking care not to boil. Stir occasionally.
• Place egg yolks in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in a 1/4 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly and carefully so as not to scramble the yolks. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the remaining half-and-half, whisking constantly. Heat the custard through, but do not simmer. If you see curdled clumps in your custard, pass through a fine strainer before continuing.
• While whisking constantly, slowly pour the warm custard into the warm melted chocolate (you want the two mixtures to be the same temperature). Once the chocolate custard is thoroughly combined and smooth, whisk in heavy cream. Cover custard and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
• Pour chocolate hazelnut custard into an ice cream machine and chill according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Fold whole hazelnuts into ice cream, excluding any powder from the nuts (it just feels gritty on the tongue). Serve at once or freeze.
• To serve, drizzle with melted bittersweet chocolate.

Steps:

• Chop chocolates into small pieces and in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolates with hazelnut butter, stirring until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat.
• Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Add pod, milk, and cream and bring mixture to a simmer over moderate heat. Remove pan from heat.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together yolks and sugar until thick and pale. Add hot cream mixture to egg mixture in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly until a thermometer registers 170° F. (do not let the custard boil or it will curdle.)
• Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and stir in chocolate mixture until combined well. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day.
• Serve ice cream sprinkled with hazelnuts.
• Or available for purchase from Dundee Orchards, P.O. Box 327, Dundee, OR 97115, (503) 538-8105.

Steps:

• Spray a 9 by 4 1/2 by 2 3/4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line pan with plastic wrap, overlapping edges; set aside. Coarsely chop 1 cup hazelnuts; combine with milk in medium saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Remove from heat; steep for 1 hour.
• Combine egg yolks and sugar in bowl of electric mixer. Using whip attachment, beat at medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile, strain milk, and discard nuts. Bring milk back to a simmer.
• Whisk half of the hot milk into the sugar mixture. Return to saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Stir in cream; pass through fine strainer. Pour into medium bowl; chill over ice bath. Stir in Frangelico. Freeze in ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Cut remaining hazelnuts in half; add nuts to ice cream, churning to incorporate, about 30 seconds.
• Spoon one-third of ice cream into prepared pan; drizzle with 1/3 cup gianduja. Repeat layering process with ice cream and gianduja, ending with an ice-cream layer. Cover with overlapping plastic wrap; freeze until firm.
• To serve, invert loaf pan onto serving plate. Cover bottom and sides of pan with cold wet towel; rub for about 1 minute. Pull plastic wrap down; ice cream will slide from pan. Remove plastic wrap, slice, and serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a rimmed baking pan and roast, stirring once or twice, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack.
• Split vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape seeds into a saucepan. Add vanilla pod, milk, cream, 1/4 cup sugar and the salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rub still-warm hazelnuts in a clean dish towel to remove skins. Take saucepan off heat and allow cream to cool while you prepare hazelnut paste.
• In a food processor, place 1/2 cup hazelnuts, remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the Cognac or rum and purée until a paste forms, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape paste into saucepan holding milk mixture and return it to medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally until paste dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Discard vanilla pod and stir in vanilla extract. Transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator or set into an ice bath to chill. Coarsely chop remaining hazelnuts.
• When mixture is cold, pour it into bowl of an ice cream machine along with 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts and churn according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a container and freeze until solid, at least 2 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, or in refrigerator for 15 to 30. Sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts.