Or, as christened by a mis-speaking of the word “clusters,” you may call this concoction, “Adam’s Fluffy Crustles,” or if you prefer, “Crustlefluff.”
This idea evolved from a throwaway comment during a brunch that marshmallow-encrusted bacon might be tasty. Next thing you know, “I need to make bacon-marshmallow ice cream!”
I adapted this recipe for toasted marshmallow ice cream, adding chopped bacon and chopped, crystallized ginger in the last few minutes of churning.
It turned out amazing. Everyone at Thanksgiving was loving it. The toasty marshmallow flavor alone is divine, but the savory bacon bits and the bite of the ginger really makes this ice cream a lot of fun to eat. In fact, I highly suggest, once the bacon & ginger is chopped up, taking a pinch of both and just eating them together. I have to cook something with ginger & bacon sometime, they work very well together.
Toasted Marshmallow Bacon Ginger Ice Cream Recipe:
adapted from this recipe by Healthy Food For Living
which was adapted from this recipe by Roasting Rambler
yield: about 4 cups; 8 servings
Ingredients:
7-10 oz marshmallows
2 cups 1% lowfat milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
5 egg yolks
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice OR other unrefined granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
7-10 pieces bacon, cooked crisp & chopped
2 handfulls crystallized ginger, chopped
Directions:
First, I used the “broiler method” in the Roasting Rambler recipe to “toast” the marshmallows. My only modification was, since I didn’t catch the marshmallows toasting fast enough, and they got a bit burned, I didn’t toast them again on the other side. The bit of burning was fine, and gave the ice cream plenty of toasty flavor.
Second, I cooked my bacon: to do this, I lined a baking sheet with foil, arranged the bacon slices on the sheet, sprinkled sugar over the slices, put the pan in the oven, and turned it on to 400°F. (Start with a cool oven! You might want to cook your bacon before broiling your marshmallows for this reason.) After 10 minutes or so, I flipped the slices over and sprinkled more sugar on them. After another 10 minutes they were done. I put them on a rack to cool, and when cool, trimmed off fatty bits that would be too unpleasantly chewey in the ice cream, and chopped up the crispier bits into tiny pieces. Set aside for later use.
Third, I took my couple handfulls of crystallized ginger and chopped them up into tiny pieces, too. Set aside for later use.
Making the ice cream:
- Using a spatula, transfer the marshmallows into a blender. Set aside.
- Place the egg yolks, evaporated cane juice, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until the mixture turns a pale yellow color. Set aside.
- Place the milk and vanilla bean paste in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan. Set the burner on your stove to medium heat. Heat the mixture, stirring often, until it is steaming but not quite simmering.
- Spoon out about 1/4 cup of the hot milk and slowly stream it into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.
- When the mixture is well-combined, repeat step 7 with an additional 1/4 cup of the hot milk.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the hot milk and heat, stirring slowly but constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon and has thickened to the consistency of heavy cream.
- Remove mixture from the heat and whisk for a few minutes to cool it down slightly. Pour mixture over the marshmallows in the blender. Blend for a minute or so, then let the mixture sit with the lid off for a couple of minutes. Replace the lid and run the blender for an additional minute.
- Add the cold heavy cream and vanilla extract to the blender and blend for 30 seconds.
- Remove lid of blender and let sit on the counter until the mixture cools to room temperature. Replace the lid and let mixture chill in the fridge until very cold, at least 6 hours.
- When ready to churn the ice cream, give the mixture a quick blend (it will be very thick after chilling, and some of the marshmallow might have begun to separate from the liquid), pour into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
- In the last few minutes of churning (or at least after the ice cream has begun to thicken a bit), slowly add the chopped-up bacon & crystallized ginger. Churning will evenly distribute it.
- Transfer ice cream to a sealable container, cover, and place in freezer until firm, at least 2 hours.