Hazelnut Ice Cream with Chocolate Truffle Bits

As I've stated many times, I'm no fan of imitations, so it might come as a surprise that I'm making a non-dairy ice "cream." Well, maybe there is a contradiction lurking in this somewhere, but just as we commonly refer to nut "meat," avocado "flesh," or peanut "butter," I might make the case that it's not a stretch to have ice "cream" made from something other than eggs and dairy products, without violating my own principles. There, I'm off the hook. The simple truth is, I don't care, because I love the sensation in my mouth of a freezing cold, creamy-rich, flavorful sweet treat--in moderation, of course (yeah, right). There, I'm honest.

Hooks and honesty dispensed with, this ice cream (see? I've already abandoned the quotation marks) is bound for my new list of top ten flavors. I've always considered hazelnuts and chocolate a brilliant, winning combination. For years, my birthday cake was a hazelnut meringue with dark chocolate buttercream. I've yet to replace that spectacular item adequately, but give me time, I will, trust me.

Back to the ice cream. The process for this is really simple. Roast and rub the skins off the hazelnuts (see how in this earlier post) and place them in a bowl. Bring some almond milk to a simmer and pour over the nuts. Allow the nuts to soak for about an hour, or until cool. Blast in the blender until smooth--a Vitamix does a fantastic job of this. Add maple syrup to taste (not too sweet!) and an ounce of Frangelico liqueur. Add a little more almond milk, if needed, to get the right consistency; it should be like a runny custard. Refrigerate until cold. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Remove before the ice cream is thoroughly frozen and stir in a handful of cut up chocolate truffles, preferably made with Frangelico added. You could also make the truffles with espresso and an ounce of Kahlua, throwing another flavor that goes well into the mix. Your call.

For a truffle recipe, you have three options: 1) adapt one of the ones in Omega 3 Cuisine (scroll to the bottom of this page on my website for one of them); 2) use one you may already have; and 3) wait for my next book, because I haven't formulated my new versions yet (but I definitely will!). Of course, you can always just use dark chocolate chips, or a chopped dark chocolate bar--the result will be punctuated with crunchy bits, as opposed to the more seamless creamy-with-dense-but-yielding-bits effect, but I doubt you'll really care. Try it both ways and see if it's worth the extra effort. What am I saying? You'll have a bunch of chocolate truffles left over--of course it's worth the trouble!

Have fun with this and let me know how it goes.