We really wanted to try infusing again, but didn’t really know what to try. Fortunately, someone in our house is having a birthday and requested churros for dessert. I had never made churros, so I thought I’d better do a practice run before the actual birthday. Left with all those churros, what are ice cream makers like us to do? Make ice cream out of them, of course!
We wanted the ice cream to taste like churros, but didn’t want to actually have churro pieces in it, so infusing was definitely the way to go for us. We didn’t want churro pieces because we thought they would freeze icy and maybe even soggy and give the ice cream a weird texture. We did add a chocolate cinnamon swirl to mimic the chocolate sauce that you can dip churros in and, let’s just say, no one at our house is complaining!
Churro
Three cheers for churros!
Ingredients
- Churro Base
2 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/8 cup whole milk
3 big churros or 6 little ones (purchased or homemade), torn up into pieces
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup minus 2 Tbs sugar
- Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl
3/8 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Dash vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions
- To infuse the cream, add the cream and milk to a medium saucepan. Add the churros (ripped into chunks) and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Once the mixture comes to just a simmer, remove it from the heat and cover it with a lid. Allow it to cool to room temperature before you prepare the rest of your ice cream. Once it is cooled, run it through a fine mesh strainer to remove the soggy churro pieces. All you’ll be left with is delicious flavor!
- Mix together the egg yolks, powdered milk, sugar, and infused cream/milk. Make sure to mix thoroughly! Don’t want any sugar or egg clumps left behind.
- Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat over medium low heat until the base reaches a temperature of 162 degrees. (No need to reduce this time since the cream already reduced during the infusion stage).
- Add base to a plastic gallon bag, and put in a prepared ice bath until cooled (about 15-20 minutes).
- Make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
- Once the ice cream is ready to come out, add a layer of the ice cream, followed by a layer of chocolate cinnamon sauce. Repeat the layers until all of your ice cream is in the container.
- Move into the freezer until hardened (at least 4 hours).
- Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl
- Add the cream, butter, sugar, and brown sugar to a small sauce pan.
- Heat stirring constantly over medium heat, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, add the chocolate chips. Pour the hot, boiling mixture over them and allow it to sit for 3 minutes, letting the hot mixture melt the chips. Sprinkle on the cinnamon and vanilla.
- After it has sat for a bit, stir the mixture until it reaches a uniform color and consistency. Allow to cool before you add it to your ice cream, and right before stir it to make it smooth.
