Hazelnut ice cream with hazelnut paste, homemade with an ice cream maker. Finally, after years of recipes for ice creams without an ice cream maker — from the fiordilatte recipe to the hazelnut ice cream, and also the pistachio ice cream without a maker — I finally bought the long-desired compressor ice cream maker and now I dedicate myself to making lots of homemade artisanal ice creams that are as good as those at the gelato shop! A few days ago I prepared the pistachio ice cream with an ice cream maker and today we’ll make the hazelnut ice cream together — without Nutella and with very pure hazelnut paste made from . I must warn you though: if you want to make ice cream like the gelato shop, you’ll need to buy some indispensable ingredients such as locust bean gum (carob seed flour), which is a thickener, dextrose, a sugar that lowers the freezing point of the product keeping it soft instead of turning into a brick, and milk powder, which gives softness, structure and volume to the churning of the ice cream. With that said, it’s time to run to the kitchen — our ice cream maker awaits and so does our homemade hazelnut ice cream, as good as from a shop!
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 2.65 lbs
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to make hazelnut ice cream
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 6.8 fl oz heavy cream (liquid)
- 1.6 oz skimmed milk powder
- 1.6 oz dextrose
- 1 tsp locust bean gum (carob seed flour) (absolutely no more)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup hazelnut paste
Tools
- Ice cream maker
- Thermometer
- Refrigerator
- Immersion blender
Preparation
Gather all the powders in one container and mix them together. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, stir and bring almost to a boil — you should reach a temperature of 185°F.
Pour this liquid onto the powders little by little, avoiding lumps.
Add the hazelnut paste and mix thoroughly, using a blender or a whisk (work for at least 3 minutes). Let cool and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, although ideally 12 hours.
Whisk the now-cold mixture, pour it into the ice cream maker and
wait for the machine to reach the proper churning/creaming consistency. Starting from a cold base, the churning will take less time. To obtain a good gelato, it is ideal to use a compressor ice cream maker because a freezer-bowl machine, especially on hot days, cannot maintain the proper temperature to achieve a good result. Also, freezer-bowl machines allow only one flavor at a time and the bowls must be stored in the freezer for at least 24 hours before another use.
Typically, the churning time for a cold base is 35–40 minutes; depending on the size of your ice cream maker, you can split the mixture in two and churn one half first and then the other.
The ice cream is ready to enjoy. Garnish with hazelnut spread and whole hazelnuts.
Storage, tips and notes
Hazelnut ice cream keeps very well in the freezer when sealed in its container. Unfortunately, after several hours in the freezer it will be a bit firm — ice cream should be served at about 16°F–12°F, while our freezers reach temperatures of approximately 0°F to -4°F, so before serving let it acclimate for 10 minutes at room temperature and loosen it again with a spoon.
