Crunchy Bits in Ice Cream

[Darienne]

I am looking for the best crunchy bits for ice cream...a request of the DH. And they must stay crunchy over the long haul.

Made the simplest, quickest such recipe from The Perfect Scoop for a quick test, but was disappointed in the end. No fault of DL I am certain.

Although my almonds were deeply toasted...indeed, almost toast, so to speak...they were not truly crunchy in the end. Well, sort of crunchy, but not really crunchy. And I think perhaps the nuts need more sugar content than the proportions given. The DH is sometimes hard to please. He does have his crunchy standards. Still, it's only the beginning.

What your favorite crunchy ice cream inclusion, please.

[pastrygirl]

If things are getting soggy over time, maybe a light coating of cocoa butter would help waterproof them to maintain crunch.

[merstar]

Try chopped heath bars.

[Jaymes]

Doesn't peppermint stay forever crunchy?

[Darienne]

Thanks for the answers.

I'll try some others of DL's recipes as time goes by.

I don't know what a Heath bar is but I'll look for it. My knowledge of chocolate bars is dismal.

And I have to admit, I hate peppermints. Sorry about that!

I'll try English toffee next. I was hoping that someone else could fill me in ahead of time.

OK. Has anyone put crushed English toffee in ice cream and does it stay crunchy over time?

[gap]

I like caramelised rice bubbles/rice krispies. There is also a product out which is sort of like a chocolate covered rice bubble/rice krispie which is nice - expensive though. Cheaper just to caramelise them with sugar yourself

[Jaymes]

I don't know what a Heath bar is but I'll look for it.  My knowledge of chocolate bars is dismal. 

I'll try English toffee next.  I was hoping that someone else could fill me in ahead of time. 

OK.  Has anyone put crushed English toffee in ice cream and does it stay crunchy over time?

A Heath bar IS English toffee.

[Kerry Beal]

In Canada a Skor bar will sub for a Health bar.

[merstar]

I don't know what a Heath bar is but I'll look for it.  My knowledge of chocolate bars is dismal. 

←

A Heath Bar is a milk-chocolate-covered toffee bar, and as Kerry said, a Skor bar is a good sub - it's basically the same thing.

Heath Bars:

http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/heath.asp

Skor Bars:

http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/skor.asp

Edited July 15, 2009 by merstar (log)

[Darienne]

Made DL's Buttercrunch Toffee today...how does one keep from nibbling it while chopping it up?...and soon it goes into a vanilla ice cream which is an amalgam of basic vanilla recipes from Alton Brown, DL, and eGullet's own jon.

jon suggests using whole eggs in ice cream and so I put two whole eggs into the mix instead of 5 or 6 yolks. If I have to freeze one more egg white, I'll have to get another freezer. Yeah, yeah, I know. Make a meringue or angel's food cake. I will, I will.

[LizD518]

I've tried a few of David Lebovits' recipes with mix-ins, as well as other recipes, and the only thing I think that has stayed crunchy is the chocolate-covered spanish peanuts. Heath bits tended to dissolve on me, mostly because they were too small I think.

I also wonder if anyone knows whether freezing the mix-ins first helps or not. I think Ben & Jerry mention that in their ice cream book, in reference to the heath bars, but I'm not at home so I can't look it up. I've never tried it though.

[Darienne]

DL's Chocolate-covered Butter-crunch bits stayed crunchy. I liked them as I slyly nibbled them as I was making, cooling, crunching, etc them...but I found the ice cream plus the bits was way too sweet. DH liked it just fine.

I haven't heard from the neighbors to whom I gave it all (except two bowls for DH). They have two young kids and get all my extras, rejects, and so on, and I think it can't be too sweet for them.

Still the point is that they stayed nice and crunchy.

[tammylc]

I find that toffee/Heath bar type inclusions stay crunchy only if the ice cream is kept very very cold. If it warms up at all, then the slight melting is enough to start dissolving the toffee.

[ColleenD]

Growing up we always had Carvel ice cream cakes for birthdays--two layers of ice cream separated by crunchy chocolate bits. I saw a recipe on line from someone who said they used to work there. They said to chop up chocolate wafer cookies in small bits and them coat them with "magic shell". That's a chocolate flavored ice cream topping in the US that pours on your ice cream but set up in a crunchy shell on the ice cream. Here is a recipe for homemade magic shell http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Homemade-Magic-Shell-Ice-Cream-topping-37377