My husband and I love spicy foods. We love making spicy foods even spicier but we’re not into the it-must-hurt-to-be-good spicy foods. Those foods suck. For days.

There are few dishes that don’t benefit from the heat of a splash of Tobasco or a handful of chopped, fresh serranos. I don’t think ice cream necessarily belongs on that list.

Last year, Jason and I went to a cooking demonstration with David Lebovitz at Central Market. Talk about fun! I’ll say it again: If you ever get a chance to just sit back and watch, eat, drink, and listen while the man cooks, do it! I also had him sign my copy of The Perfect Scoop. As far as I’m concerned, that book is a must-have for ice cream lovers. We have been pleased and it’s clearly showing 🙂

His White Chocolate ice cream is one of my favorite recipes in the book. Not that any of his recipes need improvement, but if you’re feeling adventurous you can force the mixture to grow up rather quickly with the addition of heat from a habanero pepper. It’s smooth, creamy, and white chocolatey… all the way up until the heat kicks in. It’s cold. Then it’s hot. But it’s still cold. It totally confuses your mouth. But it’s rather good.

Eat it plain. Eat it sandwiched between the last two White Chocolate-Macadamia Nut cookies in the house. Eat it straight out of the ice cream machine soft-serve style.

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White Chocolate-Habanero Ice Cream

Hot and cold, white chocolate ice cream infused with heat from a habanero.

Ingredients

• 1 Habanero
• 8 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

1. Put the chopped white chocolate in a large bowl.
2. Seed and very finely chop the habanero. Add 1/2 the chopped pepper to a medium saucepan with the sugar, salt, and the milk.
3. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warmed. Let sit for 20 minutes to infuse the milk.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
5. Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
6. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-proof spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
7. Pour the custard into the strainer set over the bowl of white chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
8. Add the remaining chopped pepper and heavy cream, and stir until mixed.
9. Set the bowl over an ice bath and stir until cool.
10. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the fridge, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Notes

Yields: 1 quart

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Estimated time: 3 hours