You may remember my French vanilla incident this summer. Since then, I have been wanting to make eggless ice cream. And this recipe from the New York Times sounded especially yummy.

There was a slight issue because I bought something called “Roman hazelnuts,” which don’t say anything about being roasted. But when I poured them out on the baking sheet, I thought they looked toasty. Turns out they are pre-toasted. I put them in the oven for a few minutes just in case.

The original recipe calls for rum or Cognac, but I had this hazelnut liqueur and I figured it would work pretty well. Bourbon would also probably be good.

I used heavy cream and 2 percent milk, and it was a good consistency when I first churned it. But after I put it in the freezer overnight it was pretty flaky (as opposed to creamy). I think it might be better if you used whole milk, but the flakiness may be partly due to the lack of eggs. I also didn’t let it thaw that long before trying to serve it. Next time I will put it in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before serving, which may help.

My parents used to live in Belgium, and a lot of the chocolates there have praline flavor. This is like the praline without the chocolate, which is quite good.

Roasted hazelnut vanilla ice cream (From The New York Times)
1 cup hazelnuts, (shelled, with skins)
1 vanilla bean
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Frangelico (or Cognac, or rum)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a rimmed baking pan and roast, stirring once or twice, until fragrant and lightly browned (about 12 minutes). Allow to cool slightly.

Split vanilla pod lengthwise and, using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out into a saucepan. Add vanilla pod, milk, cream, 1/4 cup sugar and the salt. Simmer over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the milk mixture is simmering, rub the still-warm hazelnuts in a clean dish towel to remove the skins. Take the saucepan off heat and allow cream to cool while you prepare hazelnut paste.

Place 1/2 cup hazelnuts, remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the liqueur in a food processor and purée until a paste forms, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the paste into the saucepan holding milk mixture and return it to medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the paste dissolves (5 to 7 minutes). Remove the vanilla pod and stir in vanilla extract. Transfer to a bowl and place in fridge or set in an ice bath to chill. Coarsely chop remaining hazelnuts.

When mixture is cold, pour it into the bowl of an ice cream machine and churn until almost done. Add 1/4 cup of the chopped hazelnuts, finish churning and serve.

Freeze remaining ice cream. Let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes or in refrigerator for 15 to 30 before serving. Sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts.