Simple Nutella Ice Cream

On World Nutella Day, February 5th, I came across the World Nutella Day website which has an array of recipes dedicated to the hazelnut/chocolate concoction. I immediately saw there was a section just devoted to ice cream recipes and one in particular jumped out at me: Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream Recipe from the Chocolate and Zucchini blog. The recipe truly is simple, featuring only two ingredients: evaporated milk and Nutella. I instantly dismissed it, thinking it would lack the layers of flavor and creaminess of custard based ice creams–and for the record, I was wrong. This weekend I went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday at Bourbon Steak in DC. Drinks were fabulous, food was fabulous (do try the Korean Fried Wings and duck fat fries, you will not be disappointed). But what really stole the show for us (well at least for two of us) was the Nutella Ice Cream. We decided right then and there that we had to get churning. Well, when I got home I decided that simple is better. I did not want to deal with making custard based ice cream, the stirring in front of the stove, the cooling, and the waiting overnight. I had to make the 2 ingredient Nutella ice cream. And I thought, what is the worst thing that can happen? Bad ice cream? Can anything with Nutella truly be inedible? Of course not! Never! I quickly mixed the two ingredients together, added a little vanilla infused vodka, cooled the mixture quickly over an ice bath, and poured it in the ice cream machine. The result was creamy and sweet Nutella heaven.

Nutella Ice Cream

Ingredients
• One 13 ounce container of Nutella
• One 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
• 2 teaspoon of vanilla vodka, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, optional

Procedure
1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together until they are well blended. Cool the mixture over an ice bath, or refrigerate for a few hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Alternatively, if you do not have an ice cream machine, you can make the mixture and let it cool in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning place it in a shallow container in the freezer, and every hour stir vigorously with a fork until the mixture is thick and almost completely frozen. You will end up with a less airy ice cream, but it will still be delicious.