salted peanut & caramel ice cream with hot fudge sauce

There is a serious gap in the recipe-market for good, dark chocolate sauces. Ganache has its place in my heart and in desserts, but it's just no substitute for a good rich and fudgey sauce. I've tried many, from multiple sources: they may have been rich, but by no means thick, gooey and fudgey. And then at last, I found it, thanks once again to Australian Gourmet Traveller. And it was then that I discovered the secret ingredients to a good chocolate fudge: liquid glucose, and cooking time long enough for the ingredients to emulsify.

I've also neglected my beautiful ice cream maker for far too long. What better excuse could I possibly have to make fudge sauce than a need to dust off the ol' ice cream machine.

So here is the simple recipe, accompanied by another for a fantastic recipe for salted peanut ice cream. This combination, says my better half, is snickers in ice cream form. I think it's better.

Ingredients
Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller

For ice cream:
180 gms raw unsalted peanuts
290 gms caster sugar
900 mls pouring cream
60 gms butter, chopped
8 egg yolks
200 mls milk
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

For fudge sauce:
65 gms dark chocolate, chopped
10 gms unsalted butter
75 gms caster sugar
70 gms liquid glucose
2 tsps cocoa powder

For the ice cream, preheat oven to 180C. Place peanuts on a baking tray, roast until golden and fragrant  then rub between a tea towel to remove skins. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Combine 140 gms of sugar and 50 mls water in a saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook until dark caramel in colour. Remove from heat, carefully add 100 mls cream, butter and 1 tsp sea salt and stir to combine. Return to heat, cook until smooth and then cool to room temperature. Stir in 40 gms roasted peanuts.

Meanwhile, whisk yolks and remaining sugar in a heatproof bowl until thick and pale. Bring milk, vanilla bean and seeds, remaining cream and remaining roasted peanuts to the boil in a large saucepan, then pour over egg mixture, whisking to combine. Return to pan, stir continuously over medium heat until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon thickly. Strain into a bowl placed over ice, discarding any solids. Cool completely, then freeze in an ice-cream machine. Fold through salted peanut-caramel to form a ripple effect and freeze until firm. Try to chose a container that's as close to the capacity of ice cream you've made as possible - the more airspace you have in the container, the more likely ice crystals will form. - this recipe makes about 1.2 litres.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth and combined. Combine remaining ingredients and 80 mls water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then add chocolate mixture. Return to the boil and cook over high heat without stirring, shaking pan to dissolve lumps until well emulsified. Set aside and keep warm until ready to serve.

This sauce does get better with age, though I haven't been able to experiment to determine exactly how long it lasts. It also reheats splendidly on the stove or in the microwave. It does this marvelous thing when it hits the cold ice cream where it begins to harden again, becoming a little chewy, which is just amazing. A winner of my heart.

Recommended baking soundtrack: Real Estate - Reality.