According to Matt Timms, the founder and host of The Takedowns, ice cream has all the nutritional properties of lembas, but for humans! If that is not a justification to eat all the ice cream you want, I don’t know what is :-).
This past Sunday, I participated in the Brooklyn Ice Cream Takedown – 26 competitors, 52 gallons of ice cream and one NYC heat wave = almost a nervous breakdown by me when the place that I thought would have dry ice sold out. Ummm. . .yeah, next time I’ll be reserving in advance.
Everything worked out fine in the end, I purchased their remaining bags of ice, got to the venue with everything still frozen and immediately switched out the ice in my coolers for the dry ice that Matt at ordered for our use!
At this point, are you wondering what makes this ice cream so supremely Belgian? Well, I shall tell you. Not only does it include plenty of chocolate – in the form of cocoa powder, melted in the custard and chips in the final product, but it also has Belgium’s most well know cookie – Biscoff and. . .wait for it now Belgian beer!
Before you turn your nose up at the thought of beer in your ice cream, I promise even the non-beer drinkers loved the taste. Using a dark Belgian ale brings a malty sweetness to the ice cream, which complements the chocolate. You get just a hint of beer on your first bite, and then the taste of chocolate comes through after.
You will want to use a strong Belgian dark ale for the beer. Anything too hoppy will leave a bitter after taste in the ice cream. I used Delirium Nocturnum, but Maredsous 8 or Ommegang's Abbey Ale would be a good alternative.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, bean reserved
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 4 ounces 60% dark chocolate
- 6 large egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 12 ounces dark Belgian Beer
- 5 ounces large chocolate chips or chunks
- crushed Biscoff cookies
Instructions
- Heat the milk, sugar, salt, vanilla seeds and bean on medium heat until sugar is dissolved in a medium pot.
- Whisk in the cocoa powder then turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to melt, then stir to combine completely.
- Set up an ice bath with a medium mixing bowl set on top and the cream and beer together. Place a strainer on top.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and drizzle a little of the warm chocolate milk in.
- Turn the remaining chocolate milk in the medium pot on low heat and very slowly drizzle the egg yolks in, constantly whisking and scraping the bottom of the pot. As you drizzle the eggs yolks, you will see the custard begin to thicken.
- Cook for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute after you finish adding the egg yolks.
- Strain the custard into the cream and let cool completely. This can be done ahead of time and left in an air tight container in the refrigerator. If making ice cream right away, churn in your ice cream maker for 30-35 minutes until light and creamy.
- Transfer to a container and in alternating layers, add the ice cream then some chocolate chips and crushed Biscoff, more ice cream and so on. Freeze until solid and enjoy!
Oh, so wondering what the final results of the Takedown were?
Does this photo of me doing a little happy dance give you an idea? That would be me accepting my first place judges choice award! See that in Matt’s hands? Yes that would in fact be a RED ice cream maker!
I’m not done yet though, turns out there was surprise prize that wasn’t shown on the mountain of goodies up on stage.
Blue Marble Ice Cream – one of the 4 judges – an ice creamery who I’ve loved since they opened their first shop on Atlantic Avenue – is letting me come down to their new production space in Sunset Park and make 3 gallons of my ice cream there! I’ll get to pack it into pints and blast freeze it to hand out as gifts to friends and family. This is every little kids dream come true!
Finally, here is the list of all the winners! Congrats to everyone!
I am SO proud of you!!! Congratulations Susan! You deserve that happy dance!
Thank you Jen! p.s. As my resident Texan I’ll be coming to you for tips when I prepare for the chili takedown in November!
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! Congrats Susan, you deserve it! That ice cream looks AMAZINGGG! So much so that…in fact…you know all that ice cream you’ll be freezing for gifts and family and friends…*hint hint* 😀
Thank you Kayle! I was just an excited too! Seriously, it was so hard to be excited yet remain somewhat professional in front of everyone – I mean you don’t want to gloat *that* much 🙂
Congratulations, Susan! Sorry I couldn’t stick around after the awards but it was great to see you and so exciting to see that you won 🙂
Thanks Laura and thanks again for coming on out!
Congratulations Susan!!! That is SO amazing, I’m so happy for you!! And that ice-cream sounds incredible, can’t wait to hear how it goes ice creamery!
Thanks Kristina! I will definitely be sharing my ice cream factory making adventures when it happens!
Yayyy, congrats on winning!! and that is so exciting! my birthday is coming up at the end of the month, and i’m making this to celebrate, it just sounds so delicious!
1. Happy early Birthday! and 2. Yes yes make this and tell me what you think! oh and thank you very much 🙂
Congrats! You’re a rockstar!
Thanks Chung-Ah!
Congrats, Susan!!! This is an amazing achievement. You should so pat yourself on the back for this one.
No wonder you won first place. This ice cream looks and sounds amazing! Great combo of flavors. Make sure you tell us about your experience at Blue Marble. Bravo, my friend!
Thanks Jennie! I will absolutely be taking pictures and sharing when I’m at Blue Marble.
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Living in Belgium myself, I stumbled upon this recipe. Before I had even finished reading all the instructions, my mouth was drooling. Despite the fact that is winter at the moment and I’m freezing my butt off here, I quickly ran to the store and assembled the ingredients. I made the ice-cream, without even owning an ice-cream maker (I just substituted one cup of cream with one cup of condensed milk), and it turned out so beautiful, smooth, creamy and delicious. You, milady, are a wonderful cook. Thank you for making this ^^
Karelle, thank you so much! Your comment means a lot to me and I’m really happy that you enjoyed the ice cream! My husband and I love visiting Belgium, we’ve been there three times, so in a way this was my tribute!
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