A creatively titled version of America’s favorite ice cream flavor Rocky Road, Baracky Road was born out of the visionaries at Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream in San Francisco as a nod to, you guessed it, the President. It’s your fairly traditional genius mix of rich chocolate base, sweet mini marshmallows and crunchy nuts which has never failed to please, and here it manages to taste even more decadent than all previous versions I’ve had before.
The amazing chocolate base is what does it I think, as it’s one of the richest I’ve tried. It starts as a caramel first before mixing in the chocolate, giving it a deep and super sweet flavor. You could honestly stop there and call it an insanely good chocolate ice cream, but in these times of treats and excess, why would you! You can throw in a bunch of mini marshmallows which add a pleasant chewy texture and a handful of walnuts for the crunch like the recipe calls for, classic and perfect as it is. Or you can get creative and toss in any number of random pantry items like coconut, dried cherries, almonds, … with such a base all your combos are sure to be good.
The richness, as insanely luscious as it is, is quite intense and I found that a ramekin serving size was more than enough to curb my cravings, but that’s just me! Enjoy the sugar rush…
Baracky Road Ice Cream
Adapted from Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream Book Active time: 1 hour Total time: 3+ hours Makes about 1 quart 1¾ cups sugar ½ cup water 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 2 tsp salt 3 egg yolks ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 6 oz dark chocolate (70%); 4 oz chopped, 2 oz melted ½ cup mini marshmallows ½ cup chopped walnuts
In a large, heavy-bottomed, nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, melt ¾ cup of the sugar, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula and watching constantly. Continue cooking until the caramel takes on a deep amber color and is a smooth liquid, about 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn it, because it goes from being perfect to burnt very quickly.
Immediately add the water to stop the cooking – but be careful because it will splatter. Reduce the heat to medium and stir until smooth. Add the cream, milk, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is hot but not boiling.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Place a large, clean bowl in the ice bath and fit the bowl with a fine-mesh strainer.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1 cup sugar until well blended.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Slowly pour about half of the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer the yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture and return it to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula and being sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan so it doesn’t scorch, until the liquid begins to steam and you can feel the spatula scrape against the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes.
Just toward the end of cooking the custard, whisk in the cocoa powder. At this point, whisk constantly until finished, because cocoa burns very easily. When the custard is done, remove from the heat.
Put the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Pour the hot custard over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the clean bowl you set up in the ice bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally.
When the custard has totally cooled, cover the bowl tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. When you are ready to freeze the custard, transfer it to an ice cream maker and spin according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Right after spinning, fold in the marshmallows and walnuts.
Drizzle in the melted chocolate and stir it vigorously to create chocolate chips.
Eat immediately (it’ll be really soft), or transfer to an airtight container, cover, and freeze for up to one week.
