Hazelnut ice cream sundae

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Francesco Mazzei's creamy hazelnut ice cream recipe is served as a sundae with a wonderful variety of crunchy toppings, including pieces of meringue, chopped nuts and chocolate crumble, as well as delicate wafers and tuiles. The ice cream is equally delicious on its own, and is a very traditional gelato flavour in Francesco's native Italy.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Hazelnut ice cream

  • 65g of hazelnut paste
  • 500ml of whole milk
  • 125g of caster sugar
  • 25g of milk powder, preferably skimmed milk

Meringue

  • 100g of egg white, about 3 eggs
  • 200g of caster sugar

Wafer cones

  • 40g of plain flour
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 50g of butter, melted
  • 40g of liquid glucose

Sesame tuile

Chocolate crumble

To serve

Equipment

  • Hand blender
  • Ice cream maker
  • Electric hand whisk

Method

1
Begin with the hazelnut ice cream. Mix together the whole milk, sugar and skimmed milk powder in a pan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, whisking regularly to stop it from sticking
  • 500ml of whole milk
  • 125g of caster sugar
  • 25g of milk powder, preferably skimmed milk
2
Once at a simmer, remove from the heat and stir in the hazelnut paste. Blitz with a hand blender until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve to remove any lumps
3
Chill the mixture in the fridge until completely cool, then churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Reserve in the freezer until ready to serve
4
Preheat the oven to 90°C/gas mark ¼. Line a baking tray with baking paper
5
To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites and sugar together in a clean bowl until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Spread out over the line baking tray in an even layer and bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes
  • 100g of egg white, about 3 eggs
  • 200g of caster sugar
6
While the meringue is cooking, mix together the ingredients for the wafer cones and transfer to the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes
  • 40g of plain flour
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 50g of butter, melted
  • 40g of liquid glucose
7
Once the meringue has cooked and is firm and crisp, remove it from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 160°C/gas mark 3. Leave the meringue to cool, then break into shards and store until ready to serve.
8
Remove the wafer dough from the fridge and roll into small balls, each weighing approximately 8g. Place on baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving plenty of space between each ball for spreading
9
Bake for 12 minutes and remove from the oven, keeping the oven at the same temperature. While still hot, carefully roll the discs tightly into a cone (or around a cone mould) and leave to set as they cool
10
Combine all the ingredients for the sesame tuiles in a mixing bowl. Roll out thinly on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown
11
Stamp out discs with a 3.5cm pastry cutter and allow to cool and set before serving
12
Finally mix together all the ingredients for the chocolate crumble and spread out the crumble on another lined baking tray. Bake at the same temperature for 15 minutes until crisp
13
Break up any large lumps into even crumbs and store until ready to serve
14
To serve, scoop the hazelnut ice cream into individual serving bowls or sundae glasses – it helps if the bowl is well chilled first
15
Decorate with shards of meringue and pieces of the chocolate crumble, topping with a wafer cone and sesame tuile. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped pistachio nuts and whole roasted hazelnuts
First published in 2016

Francesco Mazzei reminds us why we fell in love with Italian food in the first place, conjuring soulful dishes that put flavour first.

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