November 3, 2011

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Kahlua Ice Cream (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

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Something strange has happened to my blog. Usually so devoted to bringing you delectable low carb sweets, I have now published three savoury posts in a row! It is almost unconscionable, and this is obviously a situation I must remedy immediately. I assure you that it is just a random fluke and I won’t let it happen again. It was just an unlikely set of circumstances, wherein I fell a little behind in recipe creation because of my vacation. And I was offered a few sponsored posts that required savoury recipes and that ended up coming out right around same time. So, you see, just a fluke and now I will pull out all the stops with a rich, chocolatey treat. I will lure you back to the dark side with a dessert so sweet and creamy, you will forget I ever did anything else.

As an aside, I would like to acknowledge the sponsored posts, since this has been on my mind for a bit. Food blogging is a surprising amount of work. Those of you who are also food bloggers know what I am talking about. Between recipe creation, testing, photography, writing and editing, posting new recipes each week amounts to a part-time job. But it’s not a part-time job that pays very well. In fact, it pays very poorly. So I will confess that I am not above finding ways to make it a tad more lucrative. Because for the amount of effort I put in, and the amount of attention it diverts from my family, I’d like it to be a little more profitable. I have been testing out ways to do this, but I am also devoted to not letting these things interfere with what this blog is really about: good recipes. I tried out one method for a few days, in which keywords in my posts linked to advertising, but I hated it and quickly got rid of it. I hated the way the highlighted words distracted from the writing and the recipes, and it simply wasn’t worth it to me. As for sponsored posts, when the right offer comes along, I will do them. But let me be very clear that I will only ever accept a sponsored post for a product I would actually use myself and that I feel comfortable recommending to my readers. In the past, I have actually turned down a number of offers that just don’t fit with the theme of this blog. So I assure you, if it’s not something I would feed my own family or use in my own home, I won’t post about it. That doesn’t always mean low carb or gluten free, because you may have noticed that I like to treat my family once in a while, but it does mean quality products that I truly like!

Now that I’ve cleared the air there, let’s get down to the business of this ice cream. I really did need to remedy the situation and come up with a fantastic dessert, and it just so happened that I was craving ice cream. Odd, given that it was very wintery here over the weekend and there are still spots of snow on the ground. But let’s face it, ice cream makes a great dessert no matter what the weather is doing outside. And ever since I made my Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream over the summer, I’ve been scheming on how to amp up the chocolatey-ness of the ice cream base. So this go round, I added some unsweetened chocolate to the custard itself. But I wanted something a little more exciting than plain chocolate ice cream. It didn’t take long before I was adding some coffee powder, some Kahlua and some chopped chocolate pieces. Now we’re talking!

The Results: First let me tell you that I made and tasted this when I had a really bad head cold. But even through some serious congestion, the rich chocolate flavour came through. It is chocolatey with a capital C! The problem is, I am not sure the Kahlua really came through as much as I wanted. I didn’t want to add too much because Kahlua is very sweet and has a fair bit of carbs, so I stuck with 2 tablespoons (15 g of carbs). I think the amount of chocolate in this ice cream overpowered the Kahlua flavour. But I will tell you, if you are looking for a seriously good, chocolatey low carb ice cream, this recipe is perfect! Leave out the Kahlua to save a few carb and enjoy.

If, on the other hand, you really want the Kahlua flavour to shine, I’d say leave out the unsweetened chocolate. It’s essentially the same base ice cream as my Chocolate Peanut Butter recipe, with a little coffee powder and some Kahlua added. Your choice…seriously rich chocolate ice cream or chocolate Kahlua ice cream. Either way, you can’t go wrong!

One final word of review…this one was a huge hit with my 5 year old daughter. She went bonkers over this. I gave her a few spoonfuls when it came out of the ice cream maker, and she begged for more. She was even willing to forego the mountain of Halloween candy she’d collected the night before, to be able to have this for dessert. She’s not always a fan of my low carb creations, so it’s safe to say that you would never know this was a low carb treat!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Kahlua Ice Cream

2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 cup cream
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp instant coffee
4 large egg yolks
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
2 tbsp Kahlua
25 drops stevia extract
3 oz high % cacao (I used 85%), chopped

Set a medium bowl in a large container of ice water. Whisk cream, almond milk, erythritol and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan until cocoa powder is mostly dissolved. Over medium heat, stir occasionally and heat until mixture is steaming but not simmering, or 170F on a candy thermometer.

Whisk egg yolks and instant coffee in a small bowl until smooth. Very slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot cream mixture to temper the yolks. Then slowly whisk tempered yolks back into cream mixture, stirring constantly. Continue to cook until very hot, 175 – 180F.

Add unsweetened chocolate to custard and let sit 1 minute. Whisk briskly until thoroughly combined. Pour custard into bowl set in ice bath, and let cool 10 minutes. Remove and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours.

Stir in Kahlua and stevia and extract, then pour mixture into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. When mixture reaches soft-serve consistency, transfer to an air-tight container and stir in chopped chocolate pieces. Freeze until firm but not rock hard, 2 to 3 more hours.

Serves 8. Each serving has 8.5 g of carbs and 2.5 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6 g.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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