Almond ice cream
 
Gelato-style almond ice cream à la Fernanda Gosetti's classic book "Il Gelato".
Ingredients
  • 55 gram almond powder/almond flour
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 125 gram sugar
  • 400 ml (1¾ cup) milk
  • 100 ml (slightly less than ½ cup) cream
  • (optional: about 2 tablespoons of almond liquor, such as Amaretto)
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar.
  2. In a saucepan, bring the milk and the cream to a boil.
  3. While whisking, pour - little by little, and in a thin stream - the hot dairy into the egg yolks-sugar mixture (the tempering stage).
  4. When the ingredients have been mixed, pour back the liquid into the saucepan.
  5. On low heat, continue to whisk, ultimately bringing the mixture up to about 82-84º Celsius (189-183 ºF); the stage when you should be able to draw a line through the custard on the back of a spoon (or equivalent) that stays. For added security, use a thermometer! And remember to whisk all the time - you don't want to end up with scrambled eggs!
  6. Take off from the heat.
  7. Mix carefully about three tablespoons of the ice cream base with the almond powder.
  8. Add the resulting almond paste to the ice cream base and whisk for a few minutes to really disperse it well.
  9. Let the ice cream base cool down as fast as possible. When sufficiently cool, put in a refrigerator to chill for about five hours (or preferably, over night).
  10. Pour the chilled ice cream base in your ice cream machine (if using, add the alcohol to the base at this stage) and churn according to instructions.
  11. Store the ice cream in a freezer-safe container with lid, making sure to cover the surface with plastic film before putting on the lid.
Notes
Almond powder can be obtained by grinding peeled (and preferably roasted) sweet almonds. If you lack a grinder or would try for a somewhat different texture, you could crush them in a mortar or run them through a food processor or equivalent. The ice cream is likely to freeze quite solid - consider using some alcohol to soften it slightly, eat it fresh soon after churning, or just remember to take it out from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving.
Recipe by ICE CREAM NATION at https://www.icecreamnation.org/2012/06/almond-ice-cream/