My absolute favorite summer treat is ice cream. My second fave is s'mores! Combining a homemade version of ice cream with the flavors of s’mores brings the very best of summer together in one amazingly delicious frozen dessert.
This S’mores Ice Cream combines toasted marshmallow ice cream with graham cracker pieces and Hershey’s chocolate. It just doesn’t get better than that for celebrating the flavors of the season.
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Easy Homemade Ice Cream
I got my first ice cream maker right after I graduated college. It costs under 50 bucks and lasted about 20 years. I just recently purchased my second ice cream maker. Got the same model and it's still about $50. Definitely a great investment.
And, you know what? Making ice cream at home is actually much easier than you think it would be. And, what I really love about it is I get to control the ingredients and most importantly, the mix-ins! How much, which ones, creating different combinations and flavors.
It's really fun experimenting with all of these things! And my family is always happy to consume it all.
Ice Cream takes us all back to childhood
One of my most fun summer memories was from high school. My friends and I used to visit the local Dairy Queen where all of our high school friends worked.
They would serve us Blizzards (ice cream mixed with candy and chocolate mix-ins). Half of the cup would be ice cream and the other half would be mix-ins.
The perfect ratio of candy to ice cream, if you ask me! And this, my friends, is the benefit of making your own ice cream.
You get to control just how much or how little of the mix-ins and toppings and swirls and dollops you want. It's a beautiful thing, trust me on this.
Making S'more Ice Cream
To make this ice cream, start by cooking the ice cream base or custard. This starts with heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt. While the milk mixture heats up, whisk 6 egg yolks. Yes, 6! (Save the egg whites for your breakfast the next morning).
At this point, add a little bit of the heated milk mixture slowly into the yolks to temper them. See my note below in 'Tips for Making this Recipe' on how to do this correctly.
Once the egg yolks have been tempered, add them into the milk mixture and heat until a thick custard forms. Strain through a sieve and allow to sit while the marshmallows are toasted.
Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream
This is the best part! You get to break out that kitchen torch you got for Christmas/Hannukah or your birthday one year, but have never opened. First, warm the marshmallows in the oven for a few minutes, then toast the tops and sides by using the broiler or your torch.
Be sure to get them nice and golden without burning them (see my tips below). Scoop the toasted marshmallows into a blender along with the custard base and blend well.
The toasted marshmallow ice cream base needs to sit in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours. Then, add to the ice cream machine and churn away. Once churned, add in the chocolate pieces and graham crackers.
There you have it! Homemade S'mores Ice Cream with Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream, Graham Crackers and Hershey's Chocolate. Delish!
Pro Tips for Making This S'mores Ice Cream
- Temper your eggs into the ice cream base. This is a critical step. If you add raw egg yolks to the hot milk/cream mixture, you will end up with scrambled eggs. Instead, whisk your eggs in a separate bowl while the milk/cream mixture is coming up to temperature. Gently dip a ½ cup measuring cup into the mixture to fill it up, and while continuing to whisk the eggs with one hand, very slowly pour in the milk mixture. Keep whisking for a few seconds after you’ve finished pouring. Then slowly pour the egg mixture you just whisked back into the pot with the remainder of the milk/cream while whisking the milk/cream with one hand. Continue whisking for a few seconds after you’ve finished pouring. This will ensure your egg yolks get incorporated and not scrambled
- Be careful using a kitchen torch or the broiler! (this is the mom in me coming out) I wouldn’t recommend placing your marshmallows on parchment then using the torch. This increases your chances of setting the paper on fire. Not good. I have torched the marshmallows on a silpat without issue, however, the ideal situation is to torch them on a an unlined baking sheet. They make stick a bit but I’d rather lose a bit of each marshmallow to the baking sheet than start a kitchen fire!
- The ice cream base needs to be 100% cooled in order to use in a standard ice cream maker. The bowl of the ice cream maker is frozen and needs to remain as cold as possible in order for the ice cream to churn and turn into ice cream. This requires a little bit of patience to cool the ice cream base, I know, however, it’s well worthwhile. If the bowl gets too warm, it won’t turn into ice cream so it will all be for naught anyway. Take the time, at least 4 hours but preferably overnight, to sufficiently chill your ice cream base before churning it. Also be sure you've frozen the bowl of the ice cream maker (if you have this model or a similar one) at least overnight so it's sufficiently frozen
Like this recipe? Follow me on Pinterest for lots more recipes just like this one! And don’t forget to pin this recipe for later by clicking on one of the images below the recipe. Or, click on any of the images in this post to save to Pinterest.
If you are a S'mores lover like me, try my S'mores Truffles recipe and my S'mores Cupcakes recipe.
FOR ALL MY FAVORITE BAKING TOOLS INCLUDING THOSE USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE, CHECK OUT MY BAKING RESOURCES PAGE!
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅙ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 large egg yolks
- 10 ounces marshmallows
- 4 Hershey's Bars 1.55 ounce size
- 4 sheets graham crackers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside
- In a small pot, simmer cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks.
- Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream.
- Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
- Strain through a into a bowl and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Spread the marshmallows out on prepared baking sheet. Place marshmallows in oven for 5 minutes.
- At this point, you can either use the broiler or a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallow.
- If you use a broiler, place the oven rack as high as possible and watch the very closely to ensure they don't burn. This should take about 2-3 minutes at most.
- If using a kitchen torch, toast the tops and sides of the marshmallows, then rotate so that they are evenly toasted on each side.
- In a blender, add the ice cream base and the toasted marshmallows and puree until smooth.
- Place in a clean bowl, cover and chill completely in the fridge, at least 4 hours or overnight, until completely cool.
- Once ice cream base is completely cool, churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- While the ice cream is churning, chop the chocolate bars in bite-sized pieces and crush the graham crackers into small pieces. You can do this by placing the graham crackers in a sealed tiptop bag then rolling over them with a rolling pin or you can pulse in a food processor a couple of times. You want pieces of graham cracker, not crumbs.
- Once ice cream has finished churning, pour half into an 8x8-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Sprinkle half the graham cracker crumbs and half the chocolate over top.
- Repeat with remaining ice cream, graham crackers, and chocolate.
- Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until hardened.
Notes
- Ice cream should be stored in an airtight, freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months
- Ice cream base recipe adapted from NYTimes.com
Nutrition
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