The Inspiration:
The fruit bowl was pretty empty except for a few bananas. I didn’t feel like doing a banana-based ice cream, but I wanted to go with something rich and maybe chocolatey. I browsed the pantry shelf and my eyes lit upon a jar of peanut butter. A stash of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups sealed the deal.
I read through more of The Perfect Scoop and found that there are French (egg-based) and Philadelphia (no egg) styles of ice cream. The Milk Bar book used gelatin to create a smooth mouthfeel, but one of our family members is an avowed vegetarian, so that was right out. I figured, with the heat, I’d stick with the Philadelphia version for now, so I looked for something along those lines.
To my surprise, I found a non-egg, non-gelatin peanut-butter cup recipe in the little handbook that came in the box with the Cuisinart ice cream maker. A few adjustments and we were ready to go!
The Recipe:
Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
(adapted from the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Ice Cream Maker recipe booklet)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped chocolate peanut-butter cup candies
Beat peanut butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until smooth. Whisk in milk until sugar is dissolved. Stir in cream and vanilla. Pour into machine and mix 25-35 minutes. Add chopped candy at the end of the mixing time.
The Results:
I heard the pitch of the motor start to change as we got to the 20-minute mark, and I should have stopped the machine then. I waited until 25 minutes and added the candy, but I think I may have over-mixed it and started heading the ice cream towards butter (can you even do that?). In any case, this stuff was VERY thick and rich. We sliced up the aforementioned banana into our scoops and they were just right.
I could see doing peanut butter again, maybe without the candy. It didn’t need the super-sweet chunks… it was already nice and rich, the cloying sweetness of the candy didn’t help. Still… no complaints from the troops and every bit was devoured that night.
Mamagotcha 