RCP: Hot Pepper Ice Cream

Hot Pepper Ice Cream from Chef Steve Corry
Spice up vanilla ice cream with cayenne pepper in this homemade ice cream recipe.

Ingredients:
12 ounces sugar
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large vanilla bean, split and seeded

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients.

2. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Chill overnight.

4. Churn in an ice cream machine.

I've thought of doing something along these lines but I've always chickened out. It's an interesting idea but I can't quite wrap my brain around it.

I've thought of doing something along these lines but I've always chickened out. It's an interesting idea but I can't quite wrap my brain around it.

Hey Mike, I bet if you wrapped your mouth around a cool spoonful, the brain would say, "hey what's taken you so long to make this!" Have you ever had a fine piece of dark chocolate with a bit of cayenne in it?
There is a movie called "Chocolat" that refers to this treat, and how it touches many people lives in so many mysterious ways. Why not put it in vanilla ice cream?

Karen,

Did you try this recipe ? How was it received ?

I have a hard time wanting to make another chili ice cream. I tried sriracha-vanilla with distinctly unpopular results.

I can definitely see it. I make a dish with stir-fried pineapple, deglazed with rum, then sprinkled at the end with smoked red savina. Topped with Cynthia's home-made vanilla ice cream. It's a great combo, hot and spicy, with cold and creamy contrast.

Now that sounds down right illegal? Oh my, must try!

Karen,

Did you try this recipe ? How was it received ?

I have a hard time wanting to make another chili ice cream. I tried sriracha-vanilla with distinctly unpopular results.

I have not tried it, yet. I don't thinkl Sriracha would go well with ice cream, but Red Savina, would be another story.

Karen,

Riiiight, red hot peppers would be intuitly much better. Actually I await your first use of your own recipe, with the chili mixed within the cream.

Stuart,

Everyone here must know you'll eat anything with chilis on it.

Hey Mike, I bet if you wrapped your mouth around a cool spoonful, the brain would say, "hey what's taken you so long to make this!" Have you ever had a fine piece of dark chocolate with a bit of cayenne in it?
There is a movie called "Chocolat" that refers to this treat, and how it touches many people lives in so many mysterious ways. Why not put it in vanilla ice cream?

Yeah, I just need to give it a shot. I think it ought to be pretty good.

I can definitely see it. I make a dish with stir-fried pineapple, deglazed with rum, then sprinkled at the end with smoked red savina. Topped with ice cream..

I will admit that that was delicious (although I don't remember if you included the ice cream when you served it to us).

But, I have never seen the point in adding chili to chocolate. Doesn't do the chocolate any favors if you ask me.

When you come up to visit us (hah!), we will serve you the Brownies of Death. The chile and chocolate really do work well together, surprisingly.

Chiles and chocolate make a damn good combination for me.

One word for Rahsaan: mole.

mole.

Mole I can understand and it is indeed a nice combination. Similarly, I guess if you wanted to make a spiced hot chocolate then the chilis could be part of that.

I was thinking more about these chocolate bars with chili added, which to me just seems to kill the purity of the chocolate, which is what I seek when I eat chocolate (and remember, I'm a mono-cepage kind of guy as well).

But, not every use of chocolate has to be about appreciating the pure nuances, and I concede that chili can work well in those circumstances.

I haven't had one of those bars, I'm not much of a chocolate candy eater, but certainly brownies with chile (the Mexican Bar RCP, for example) have heat, nuance, complex flavors, and are just plain delicious.

Mole I can understand and it is indeed a nice combination. Similarly, I guess if you wanted to make a spiced hot chocolate then the chilis could be part of that.

I was thinking more about these chocolate bars with chili added, which to me just seems to kill the purity of the chocolate, which is what I seek when I eat chocolate (and remember, I'm a mono-cepage kind of guy as well).

But, not every use of chocolate has to be about appreciating the pure nuances, and I concede that chili can work well in those circumstances.

A couple of thoughts. First, the chilies in chocolate shouldn't be too piquant IMO. Darker Pasillas and Mulatos are great for that, as they already have some chocolatey flavors to them. The only mole using chocolate is Mole Poblano, which is sui generis in the world of mole. Mole Poblano is a great melange of flavor, but apropos of the now-infamous (and lost) "Complexity vs. Purity" thread on WT, I wouldn't expect it to hit your monocepagist sweet spot the way some more nuanced moles and pipians might. Finally, the chili/chocolate connection is as old as the word chocolatl, that Aztec drink that contained both. Your use in hot chocolate is a rough approximation and I too fail to see a need for it in a chocolate bar, though like Stuart I eat so little chocolate that it's a moot point for me.

Mark Lipton

Thanks for posting this, Karen. I would love it!

But I would use the smoked red savina instead of cayenne. I very much like the fruitiness of it with sweets.