Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Chocolate-Covered Bacon Gelato

Ok, you all know how much we love our bacon & think it is perfect for every course including dessert (see our Dark Chocolate & Bacon Cupcakes). Since we got an ice cream maker for Christmas the idea of bacon in ice cream has been running through my head. I decided that coating the bacon in chocolate would only make it better.
Chocolate Covered Bacon Gelato
I was worried the bacon might get soft in the gelato but it remained really crispy. Use the best bacon you can here (we used Nueske's) & one that isn't cut too thin. The flavor of the bacon is the salty star here making this truly a dessert for the bacon lover. I almost wished for a little more chocolate flavor so if I were making this again I might add a handful of chocolate pieces into the mix as well.
Chocolate Covered Bacon Gelato
We have a few other ideas for flavors around this like a maple flavored gelato with chocolate covered bacon or a honey sweetened gelato with bacon & figs in it that I'm looking forward to trying too.

Chocolate Covered Bacon Gelato
(Gelato recipe from The Ice Cream Bible. We really like this recipe for vanilla gelato & usually make it in place of vanilla ice cream so it became the vehicle for the chocolate bacon addition.)

1 c bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 - 2 oz semisweet chocolate
1 vanilla bean
2 c milk
1 c heavy cream
3/4 c sugar

Cook the bacon pieces until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon to paper towel to drain away the fat. Let the bacon cool to room temp or put in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cut the chocolate into small pieces & place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for one minute. Stir until completely melted. Add the bacon & still until coated. Coat a baking sheet with wax paper. Remove the pieces of chocolate one at a time to the wax paper. (Yeah, you'll get chocolate on your fingers, consider it a snack.) Place into the freezer & let the chocolate set. If not using right away remove the bacon from the wax paper & put into a ziplock bag or plastic container & keep frozen until ready to use.

Split the vanilla bean in half & scrape the beans into a medium sauce pan. Put the rest of the bean, milk, cream & sugar in the saucepan as well. Heat over medium-low until the sugar melts. Strain into another container (mainly your removing the vanilla beans) & chill until completely cold.

Process the gelato mixture according to your ice cream maker's directions. In the last 5 minutes add the chocolate covered bacon in order to mix in.

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14 comments:

  1. MariaJune 23, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    What an ice cream flavor! I love your creativity!

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  2. LoriJune 23, 2009 at 8:21 AM

    Covering the bacon in chocolate - what a great idea! I would love to try this. The bacon and fig creation sounds good as well. I'll be looking forward to that one.

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  3. Tangled NoodleJune 23, 2009 at 8:34 AM

    This is good - really good! Maple-flavored gelato and bacon would be absolutely brilliant - I've always loved it when the syrup from my pancakes would ooze on over to the bacon or sausauges. Heaven!

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  4. Christina KimJune 23, 2009 at 8:59 AM

    Now this is daring, creative, innovative... I love it!!! It makes sense though, bacon always pairs well with sweet (bacon+scallops, prosciutto+melon, bacon+dates)

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  5. graceJune 23, 2009 at 9:19 AM

    bacon ice cream? been done. chocolate-covered bacon ice cream? that's a first, and that's just splendid. very inventive (and rewarding). :)

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  6. billjacJune 23, 2009 at 10:10 AM

    I think it was the chocolate coating that kept the bacon crisp in the ice cream. It also must have kept the bacon flavor discrete, creating a sharp contrast between the flavor of the mix-in and the flavor of the gelato. How well do you think that worked? The two other flavor combinations you mention make a lot more sense to me than bacon with vanilla even with chocolate as a mediator. (You might mix a little goat cheese into the honey gelato, though.)

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  7. AnonymousJune 23, 2009 at 11:09 AM

    I think I love you, Kat! The next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I'm going to say you.

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  8. JenJune 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM

    wow-- I'm always impressed by your creativity.

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  9. eatingclubvancouver_jsJune 23, 2009 at 1:29 PM

    Crisp bacon, creamy smoothness: what else can one ask? Yummy!

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  10. TS of eatingclub vancouverJune 23, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    Chocolate-covered Bacon!!!!!!!!! The exclamation points are truly warranted. =D

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  11. maybelles momJune 23, 2009 at 7:13 PM

    HOW delicious and decadent.

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  12. LoriJune 23, 2009 at 8:12 PM

    You guys are bacon gurus. You could write a doctor Seuss book about all the ways to eat bacon. Now wouldnt that be cute. I think the saltiness would go great with the ice crea and a I like the maple flavor idea as well.

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  13. Beth (jamandcream)June 24, 2009 at 7:11 AM

    Well I love bacon - but cant say ever tried it in ice cream before!!!

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  14. NikiTheoJune 24, 2009 at 7:26 AM

    Chocolate and bacon is wonderful.... And in gelato.... yum....

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