We were listening to an ice cream podcast (yes, that’s a thing), and the two men on the show both expressed how popular their honeycomb flavors were. I’ve never been the biggest honeycomb fan, so that was never really a flavor we even considered. However, we were so intrigued by how wonderful these guys said it was, so we had to give it a try.
I’m not even sure where to begin with this ice cream. It is, in a word, unreal! You are immediately hit with a peanut butter flavor, then you get a hint of chocolate. All the while you get to enjoy the smooth creaminess of the ice cream with the small crunch of the honeycomb. The best part, is at the end you get this lingering honey flavor that just lasts on your tongue. I worried that the honeycomb would be too sticky and chewy, but it is the perfect thing in the ice cream. We’ve also been on the hunt for the perfect chocolate swirl. One that stays soft and scoopable, but doesn’t loose it’s shape and definition. We have definitely perfected it here! This one is a winner for sure!
Peanut Butter Honeycomb
Sweet enough for the honey bees!
Ingredients
- Peanut Butter Base
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter
- Honeycomb Candy (from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 Tbs honey
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 Tbs baking soda
- Chocolate Swirl
6 Tbs Heavy cream
1 Tbs butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt
Directions
- Honeycomb Candy
- Combine the sugar, water, honey, and corn syrup to a sauce pan. Stir constantly while it comes to a boil. Allow it to continue to cook until the candy reaches 269 degrees (use a thermometer for this).
- Add the baking soda and stir until it is all mixed (fair warning, it will foam and expand quite a bit)!
- Pour the candy onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and allow it to cool while you prep the rest of the ingredients and make the ice cream.
- Just a bit before you are ready to add the honeycomb to the ice cream, add the honeycomb to a bag and smash it into small bits. We did pretty small bits, so that the candy wouldn’t be too hard to eat.
- Chocolate Swirl
- Heat the cream, butter, and sugars over a medium low heat until the sugar dissolves and it starts to boil.
- Let it boil for just a couple of minutes to make sure it is smooth. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate chips. Don’t stir yet! Allow the chocolate to sit in the hot syrup for a couple of minutes.
- After sitting, stir the chocolate in until no clumps remain. Add in the vanilla and salt. Allow the chocolate to cool completely to room temperature while you prep and make the ice cream.
- Peanut Butter Base
- Heat the 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup milk on low in a medium saucepan until it reaches 140° F, stirring occasionally. While the custard heats, using an electric mixer to whisk the 2 large eggs in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- While the cream is still heating, slowly add the 3/4 cup sugar into the eggs, whisking thoroughly to make sure the mixture doesn’t become grainy.
- After the cream reaches the target temperature, gradually pour it into the egg and sugar mixture, again whisking each time the cream is added to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Pour the entire mixture back into the medium saucepan. Add the peanut butter and whisk until no clumps remain (we often use the immersion blender to make this happen). Heat it to 170° F.
- Now pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
- When ready, make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
- During the last 5-10 minutes in the ice cream maker (the ice cream should basically have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream), add in your honeycomb chunks. Don’t add it all in! Add handfuls at a time until you get your desired chunkiness.
- Assembling the Ice Cream
- Add a thin layer of chocolate swirl to the bottom of your container of choice. Add a layer of the ice cream on top of it.
- Repeat layers of chocolate and ice cream until you reach the top. Add a swirl of chocolate on top just to be fancy if you want!
- Freeze until hardened (at least 4 hours).
