Let’s pretend for a moment that this is a great photograph.  Let’s pretend that it was taken outside in natural light with no shadows and just moments after this Tin Roof Sundae was made.  So it is not melty and there are no artificial lights bouncing their glare off the glass.

My brother Michael’s birthday is August 26th.  It is sandwiched between my anniversary ( August 24th) and our brother Alex’s anniversary (September 1st).  It falls in the last week of August when my parents are always in Sun Valley.  That last week of August also happens to be when people are cramming their days full of summery things because school is about to start.  And Michael is always very aware of the fact that school is about to start because he is a teacher.  Suffice it to say, Michael’s birthday tends to get a little overlooked.  (I have tried to teach him that if you make a big stink about your birthday, you can actually milk it for a month or more.  But I am a Leo and he is a Virgo and Virgos seem not to care.)

This year, our other family members and his girlfriend were out of town on his big day, so I offered to make him dinner.  I told him he could invite friends and I would make whatever he wanted.  He paused for one second and then told me he wanted the Banh Mi-like Vietnamese Tofu Sandwiches.  He left the appetizers and sides up to me but he was adamant about dessert.  Hot-Tin-Roof Sundaes.

Last summer, Micheal asked me to cook a special bachelor dinner for his best friend who was about to get married.  It was a long night – five courses.  It was the night that I made vegan pâté, a melon soup, and that tomato-burrata salad that I won’t shut up about.  By the time the main course rolled around, I was tired and just done taking pictures.  The sundaes turned out really well and the very full groom-to-be and his friends wolfed down every bite.  I was sorry I didn’t get a picture so I could share with all of you.

So, if you are excited about this, it’s Michael you should thank for asking me to make them again.  To be honest, I was surprised this was his birthday choice.  Michael is a cookies guy, a cake guy, a pie guy – I didn’t really think he was an ice cream guy.  At least not as his first choice.  When I asked him, he said that he just loved the combination here.  He remembered the components better than I did.  Cocoa nib ice cream, chocolate caramel sauce, and chile-lime peanuts.  Oh yeah.  That was pretty good.

So I couldn’t let another stab at this beauty go by without sharing.  Please, look past the bad photo and give this a try.  Of course, you could do any one part of it and have a great dessert.  Or just make the peanuts for a pre-dinner snack.

One Year Ago: Holly B’s Bruschetta
Two Years Ago: Pomodori Al Forno (this is one of my most requested appetizers)

Hot-Tin-Roof Sundaes
Adapted from Gourmet
6 to 8 servings

In my experience, this recipe makes way more chocolate sauce than you will need for the sundaes.  This is not a terrible problem to have.  However, if you make it in advance and are reheating it, don’t reheat the whole portion at once.  Just scoop out as much as you will need and rewarm that portion.

Chocolate-Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup corn syrup
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 60% cocoa), chopped

Ice Cream
3 cups reduced-fat milk (2%)
12 tbsp. cocoa nibs, divided
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 large egg yolks
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1½ cups chilled heavy whipping cream
Pinch of kosher salt
Chile-Lime Peanuts (recipe follows)

For Chocolate Sauce:
Stir first 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush.  Increase heat and boil until syrup is deep amber, swirling pan occasionally, about 10 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Add cream and butter (mixture will bubble up).  Stir until any caramel bits dissolve.  Stir in salt and vanilla.  Add chocolate; stir until melted.  (Can be made 1 week ahead.  Transfer sauce to medium bowl.  Cover and chill.  Rewarm before using.)

For Ice Cream:
Bring milk, 6 tablespoons cocoa nibs, sugar, and corn syrup just to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat; cover.  Steep 20 minutes.

Whisk egg yolks and cornstarch in medium bowl until blended; gradually whisk in warm milk mixture.  Return custard to same saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until custard thickens and just begins to boil, 2 to 3 minutes.  Strain custard into large bowl; discard nibs.  Whisk in cream and salt.  Chill custard until cold.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Transfer to container; mix in remaining 6 tablespoons cocoa nibs.  Cover and freeze at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

For each sundae, place 2 scoops ice cream in a short tumbler; spoon warm sauce over.  Sprinkle with Chile-Lime Peanuts.

Chile-Lime Peanuts
Makes about 2 cups

2 cups raw Spanish peanuts
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. coarse kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
¾ tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Toss peanuts, olive oil, coarse kosher salt, and sugar in medium bowl to coat evenly.  Scrape mixture onto rimmed baking sheet.  Roast nuts until fragrant and beginning to darken, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.  Transfer nuts to large bowl.  Add lime juice, hot pepper sauce, and cayenne pepper; toss to coat.  Cool nuts completely.  (Can be made 1 week ahead.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.)

The first time I ever tasted Nutella, I was on a three month-long bike trip in France.  It sounds romantic, doesn’t it?  Rather than spending spring trimester of junior year in a classroom, I spent it on a bike riding through five different regions of France.  Even as I type that I think,”Man, that sounds amazing”.  Parts of it were amazing.  But not seeing the sun for 14 days straight and camping in soaking wet tents along the side of the road was not.  I was 16, cold, wet, hungry, and homesick.  Food was more important to me than it ever had been in my life up until that point.  Meals, homestays, and mail were the things that kept me going through what proved to be a difficult trip.

All of us carried food with us either in our paniers or, as in the case of baguettes, strapped to the back of our bikes.  There were certain things that some people were never without.  For me it was a large bar of chocolate.  Others were intensely loyal to Nutella.  I thought the idea of spreading a chocolate/hazelnut mixture on bread sounded like a strange and not-all-that-appetizing practice.  The color and consistency of Nutella turned me off  so I didn’t eat it.  Then one day, when I had run out of jam, I accepted a smear from a friend and then – oh yes – I understood.

What does this have to do with ice cream?  Friends, this is Gianduja Gelato.  In other words, Nutella ice cream.  Oh, and with a ribbon of dark chocolate running through it.  Homemade ice cream will impress just about any dinner guest (“You made the ice cream??”), but just to totally blow peoples’  minds, try serving this with Nutella Pound Cake.  Prepare yourself for praise.

(If you are looking for something more savory, I posted a terrific Eggplant Parmesan recipe over at Amazon Fresh.)

Gianduja Previously: Gianduja Mousse
One Year Ago: Classic Currant Scones

Gianduja-Stracciatella Gelato
The Perfect Scoop
Make about 1 quart

1½ cups hazelnuts, toasted
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. coarse salt
4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
5 large egg yolks
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
Stracciatella (recipe follows)

Rub the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the papery skins as possible, then finely chop them in a food processor or blender.

Warm the milk with 1 cup of the cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.  Once warm, remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts.  Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Put the milk chocolate pieces in a large bowl.  Heat the remaining 1 cup cream in a medium saucepan until it just begins to boil.  Pour it over the milk chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Set a mesh strainer over the top.

Pour the hazelnut-infused mixture through a strainer into a medium saucepan, squeese the nuts firmly with your hands to extract as much of the flavorful liquid as possible.  Discard the hazelnuts.

Rewarm the hazelnut-infused mixture.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm hazelnut mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the milk chocolate mixture.  Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Stracciatella
Make enough for 1 quart of ice cream

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (do not use chocolate chips)

In a clean, absolutely dry bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate stirring it until it is absolutely smooth.

Mixing it in: Drizzle a thin stream of the warm chocolate into the ice cream during the last possible minute of churning.  If the chocolate clings too much to the dasher, remove the ice cream from the machine and drizzle the chocolate into the frozen ice cream by hand while you layer it into the storage container, breaking up any chunks as you stir.