The Buckeye State Ice Cream

Wedding celebrations were in full swing this weekend, as one of my dear friends from college got married. We attended undergrad at Miami University in Ohio, and are among just a handful of classmates currently living in New York City. Therefore, the evening's festivities turned into quite the reunion of classmates and sorority sisters I hadn't seen for some time!

As a tribute to our days spent in Oxford, I wanted to share a beloved ice cream from the Buckeye State! Jeni's Splendid is my absolute favorite ice cream. Scoop shops are located only in Ohio, but fortunately, pints of her frozen treats are available nationwide at fine grocery stores. There is even a cookbook, so ice cream lovers can make the signature flavors at home.

The Buckeye State Ice Cream is a combination of rich, peanut butter and dark chocolate. It's abundantly decadent, but not too sweet... Enjoy!

The Buckeye State Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (less if using saltier peanut butter)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
4 ounces chocolate (55% to 70% cocoa), chopped

Prep

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, peanut butter, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Cook

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.  

Chill

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. 

Freeze

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and begin to spin the ice cream. 

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double broiler. Remove from the heat and let cool until tepid but still fluid. When the ice cream is thick and creamy and almost finished, drizzle the melted chocolate slowly through the opening in the top of the ice cream machine and allow it to solidify and break up in the ice cream for about 2 minutes. 

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.