Toasted Almond Ice Cream

Just tell me who won already.

A throwback to the 2012 election. Simpler times!

Election Day is finally upon us, and after cycling through all of the emotional stages of the political roller coaster, I’ve finally settled into a hard-won state of equanimity and acceptance. That the fake-ass “populist” fool might truly win is horrifying, but it is what it is, and if that is indeed what comes to pass, it will not be surprising. Never forget: America re-elected Bush/Cheney a year and a half after the disastrous invasion of Iraq had commenced. Sadly, viciousness is simply part of who we are. I’m not saying we should accept that fact or not work to try and change it. I’m just saying that for today, when there’s nothing more to be done, my vibe is c’est la vie.

Am I bumming you out yet? Well just wait, it’s about to get even better!

I’m going to make a hard left turn here away from politics to talk about ice cream in the Bay Area. At the risk of alienating most of my tiny readership, it is my sincere belief that Fenton’s—yes, the Fenton’s that had a cameo in Pixar’s Up—has very mediocre ice cream. You can come for me in the comments, but it won’t change the fact that the ice cream there is not that great. You’re better off buying a half-gallon of Dryers or Bryers. Don’t get me started on the disgusting Bubble gum flavor Fenton’s offers to children.

Anyway, the reason I bring Fenton’s up is that it was there that I was first introduced to the Black and Tan sundae: vanilla and toasted almond ice creams combined with caramel and fudge, whipped cream, etc. This was sometime around 2005. In yet another example of my culinary ignorance, up until that point I wasn’t familiar with toasted almond as a flavor. Sure, I knew the Good Humor bars, but I always chose Chocolate or Strawberry in that regard. Without fail. Similar to pecans, I somehow decided that almond flavored desserts weren’t for me, and didn’t really partake in them until I was an adult. I now realize this was a huge mistake, because toasted almond—and almond more generally—is quite good.¹

So here is my humble attempt to create a toasted almond ice cream at home.

Oh, and I also included some almond extract.

This bottle is very old. Finally used it all up!

As for the recipe, I did a riff on the Salt & Straw recipe. The basic idea was the same, but I used guar gum instead of xanthan, and I used 1 1/2 cups each of milk and cream instead of 1 1/3 cups. I don’t know, for some reason the 1 1/3 proportion bothers me. Just make it 1.5!

In terms of process, you toast some almonds and set them aside. Then combine the milk, sugar, corn syrup, and guar gum and heat until the sugars dissolve. Then add the toasted almonds and almond extract and let it all steep.

Once it cools down (I let it sit for about 40 minutes), you add the cream. At this point, I could have strained out the almonds, but I decided to keep them in the mix while the whole thing sat in the fridge. I let it marinate in the fridge for about 8-9 hours. I was going to let it marinate overnight, but I got antsy last night I decided I wanted to make some ice cream.

Here’s the mix before it went into the refrigerator.

That was going it be it, but on the advice of this recipe, I also decided to make a candied almond mix in. So I toasted some additional almonds, dumped them into a saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar, melted the sugar until the almonds were coated, cooled the almonds, and then loosely chopped ‘em up.

Now I was ready to churn. I strained the almonds out of the mix and then got the churning started:

After I started churning, I realized that I didn’t increase the sugar ratio to account for the extra 1/3 cup of dairy I put into the mixture. Another tablespoon of sugar probably would have sufficed to maintain the correct sugar to dairy fat ratio. But by the time I realized this, it was too late. Oh well.

I’m happy to report, it didn’t matter. The final results were excellent.

It scooped up beautifully, the texture came out smooth and creamy, and the taste was just right. It didn’t matter that I didn’t add the extra sugar. It was sweet enough, and the sweet almond flavor of the ice cream worked well with the toasted, nutty flavor of the mix-ins. In terms of the guar gum, I really like the texture it produces. I’ll need to do further investigation / experimentation, but I think it’s maybe better than xanthan gum. All in all, this one is a keeper.

And that’s a wrap for this week. Next week I’m thinking of making a POG (Passion-Orange-Guava) Sorbet. Because no matter the results tonight, after the past few months, I feel like I’m gonna need some tropical flavors to lift my mood.

Until then, sending you all love and solidarity! 🙏

1. I mean, the Fenton’s ice cream wasn’t that good, but upon tasting the toasted almond I realized it was a flavor I could get down with.