Gingernut and Roasted Nectarine Ice Cream with Hazelnut Praline

It’s a little strange posting a recipe for ice cream in the depths of winter I know, but I have good reason. Firstly, I have never been one to be put off ice cream by a little cold weather, ice cream is far too good to be reserved only for summer and secondly it’s warm and gloriously sunny in the northern hemisphere where many of my readers come from so I wanted to do a little something for all of you (don’t you just love me even more now, wink!). My friend was recently in Vegas and she said it was 46C (115F) that takes warm and sunny to a whole new level where ice cream is not only needed but mandatory.

I took these photos for my Gingernut and Roasted Nectarine Ice Cream with Hazelnut Praline at the end of summer this year and then my boys and I got sick with the chicken pox for an epic two months (yes, because the experience wasn’t unpleasant enough we managed to get sick one after each other so that the process was long and drawn out, super fun). So despite writing the recipe and taking the photos I never actually got around to putting it on the blog…until now.

I love nectarines, they are so fragrant and just smell and taste like summer to me. Jo Malone does a nectarine perfume, which may sound strange at first, but it is just so summery and gorgeous, one of my favourites that I’m definitely dreaming of getting one day. Roasted nectarines are so sweet and tangy so the perfect contrast to rich creamy ice cream. What goes even better with nectarines? Spicy ginger. Crumble up so spicy ginger nut biscuits add it to the mix and you almost have the perfect ice cream, it’s just missing one thing…some serious crunch! Here in New Zealand a classic “Kiwiana” (iconic New Zealand) ice cream flavour is hokey pokey. It’s vanilla ice cream with little pieces of honeycomb which we call hokey pokey (don’t ask me where that name comes from, I have no clue). This is not quite honeycomb but I’ve added some crunchy hazelnut praline sprinkled over the top of the ice cream, a bit like a grown up’s hokey pokey ice cream. What’s the absolute best part of this ice cream though? Like all the ice creams on my blog so far, it’s no churn! Whoop whoop! So all of my friends out there with little kitchens like me and no room for fancy gadgetry (that I’m secretly super jealous of by the way) like ice cream makers can still our fix of homemade ice cream.

So whether you’re enjoying glorious summer days or just dreaming of them, I hope you enjoy this little sweet treat too.

xo Kate

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Gingernut and Roasted Nectarine Ice Cream with Hazelnut Praline

Gingernut and Roasted Nectarine Ice Cream with Hazelnut Praline Author: My Little Larder

Prep Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours

Servings 6 -8

Author My Little Larder

Ingredients

Ice cream:

• 6 nectarines halved
• 1 cup gingernut biscuits see note
• 500 mL/17oz cream
• 425 g/15oz sweetened condensed milk

Hazelnut praline:

• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 2 cups caster sugar

Instructions

For the Ice Cream:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/390F fan-bake.
2. Put nectarines in an oven proof dish and bake in the oven for 30-40 min until cooked and starting to fall apart. Remove from oven and allow to cool to the touch. Remove skin and stones and place in a blender or food processor and blend until pureed. Set aside to cool completely.
3. While the nectarines are cooling place ginger nuts in a food processor and process until they resemble very course breadcrumbs with a few larger chunks. Alternatively place in a ziplock bag and hit with a wooden rolling pin.
4. In a large bowl combine cream and sweetened condensed milk. Using an electric beater, whisk until soft peaks form. Fold in cold nectarines and ginger nuts. Pour into a loaf container and freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. Serve with hazelnut praline sprinkled on top.

For the Hazelnut Praline:

1. While the ice cream is freezing, make the hazelnut praline. Spread hazelnuts out evenly over a baking tray lined with baking (parchment) paper.
2. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar over the bottom of a heavy based medium saucepan (I like to use my Le Creuset pot for this) over medium heat. Once the sugar has almost completely melted sprinkle another 1/4 cup, repeat until all the sugar has melted and turned a deep golden brown colour. Stir as often as required while the sugar is melting. Note that using this method you can stir the sugar as often as you like, if you use the alternative method for making praline and add water to your sugar then you cannot stir.
3. When the sugar is melted and a golden brown, pour evenly over the hazelnuts and leave to harden.
4. Once hardened break into large shards and place in a food processor or by placing in a zip lock bag and using a rolling pin as you did with the gingernut biscuits. Pulse until you reach your desired consistency, I like it in small chunks. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

I love to use my heavy bottomed enamel Le Creuset Signature Enameled Dutch Oven  for making praline.

If you make this, I would love to see! Tag your photo with #mylittlelarder on Instagram.