My first ice cream maker just arrived in the mail and I was so desperately and recklessly excited to use it, I went out to buy ingredients for a dark chocolate gelato before actually reading the instructions, neglecting to realize you need to freeze the mixing bowl for 15 hours prior to use. Never one to practice patience and rationale in such times of desperation, I needed a back up plan. I'd already decided I was making ice cream that day, and when I make up my mind to do something, there are few things that can stop me; manufacturer prep time certainly isn't one of them. So, I found a recipe (from one of my favorite food blogs) that didn't require an ice cream maker, went back out to get some chocolate hazelnut spread and evaporated milk, and stirred my way to my first ever homemade ice cream!

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups (13 oz, 369 g, 342 ml) Chocolate hazelnut spread
• 1 1/2 cups and 1 Tablespoon (14 1/2 oz, 410 g, 380 ml) Evaporated milk

You can use any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread that you prefer. I try to find an organic version with less sugar than Nutella because it's healthier, but that works fine too. I found the original recipe to be a little sweet, so I cut down the amount of chocolate spread by about 10% from the original portions (and I have no problem finding other tasty uses for the spread).

Directions
Combine the chocolate hazelnut spread and evaporated milk in a mixing bowl and stir until you have a consistent mixture. Chill for 2 hours. Follow the directions for your ice cream machine, or if you don't have an ice cream machine, put the mixture in a freezer safe bowl and stir again after 2 hours. Work those biceps! Continue to freeze and stir until you're happy with the consistency (two times is probably enough).

Serving
I served this with a biscuit and some sliced bananas, partly because I like banana and Nutella crepes and mostly because I felt guilty at how easy this was to make and needed some way to expel more effort. I'm sure it tastes perfect by itself. I bet it would also go well with some sour cherries or chopped hazelnuts.

Labels: chocolate, hazelnut, ice cream