Amaretto Ice Cream With Liqueur Poached Pecans and Hazelnut Swirl

Recipe yields a little over 1 quart of ice cream.

To prepare the pecans, combine them with the amaretto, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until liquid has reduced completely. Then remove the pan from the heat and transfer the pecans to a dish and set them aside to cool.

For the ice cream: Combine milk, cream, sugar, and salt in a double boiler and cook over high heat. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl. When the milk mixture heats through, pour about 1/8 cup of it at a time into the egg yolks, stirring continuously until the egg mixture is heated through. Then pour the egg mixture back into the double boiler. Stir continually with a rubber spatula until the custard cooks through, and it becomes thick enough to trace or coat the spatula.

Remove the pan from the heat and cool the custard as quickly as possible. Transferring the double boiler insert to an ice bath is a great option. As soon as the custard reaches room temperature, mix in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and amaretto. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

When the mixture has set, transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and churn for 45 minutes, or the time indicated by the machine’s instructions.

Meanwhile, heat the Nutella in the double boiler until it is liquified. When the ice cream is done churning, mix in the pecans. The best way to add the Nutella is by layering. As you are packing the soft ice cream into its freezer container, drizzle in layers of melted Nutella. Once you have finished, allow your ice cream to set in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Ice cream that includes alcohol will be VERY soft. Make sure you allow it to deep freeze before serving.

I recommend serving this ice cream, and others that include rich alcohol flavors in small portions. A little will go a long way, so try serving it in one or two small scoop portions.