Vanilla Almond Ice Cream Bars

Ingredients

Ice cream

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TB vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Chocolate Almond Shell

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 8 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 TB coconut oil

Instruction

Ice Cream

1. Add the egg yolks to a heatproof mixing bowl (I used a 2 1/2 quart size) and set aside.
2. Combine the milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt and vanilla in a 3 quart saucepan or saucier and set over medium heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar and continue to heat until the mixture just barely simmers. There should be a lot of steam wisping from the surface. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
3. Add 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to a measuring cup with a pour spout, and remove the saucepan with the remaining hot milk from the heat.
4. Slowly stream the cup of hot milk into the egg yolks while whisking quickly and constantly to temper the eggs. Once the entire cup has been added, return the tempered egg and milk mixture to the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
5. Before you place the saucepan back over the heat, set a fine mesh sieve over a clean, heatproof bowl so that it’s ready as soon as the custard is up to temperature.
6. Place the saucepan back over medium low heat, and stir constantly with a spatula until the custard has thickened into a gravy-like consistency. Make sure that you’re constantly scraping the bottom of the pan to keep the eggs from curdling. It’s also a really good idea to use a thermometer to check for the correct temperature. The perfect consistency is at around 185-190 degrees F. 
7. As soon as the custard has reached the correct temperature, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and strain through the fine mesh sieve and into the clean bowl. Use the spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan to get all of the custard out.
8. After you strain the custard, you’ll notice a few tiny chunks of cooked egg white. This is normal and completely okay, and will not affect your ice cream. Some of the white always clings onto the yolk during separation and cooks more quickly. This is why you strain. 
9. Allow the custard to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 4 hours. 
10. Once the custard has chilled, divide it among the 6 popsicle molds, cover and freeze until firm, about 6 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Almond Shell

1. After the ice cream bars are completely frozen, make the chocolate almond shell. Combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl and microwave on full power for 35 seconds. Stir well to distribute the heat and begin melting the chocolate.
2. Microwave again for another 35 seconds and stir, most of the chocolate will be melted at this point. If there are still some larger pieces remaining, pop the bowl back into the microwave for another 5 seconds to finish melting. 
3. Stir the chopped sliced almonds into the melted chocolate and pour the mixture into a tall glass (a highball works really well here.)
4. Dunk each vanilla ice cream bar into the chocolate almond shell, and rotate it around a few times until it hardens. This should only take about 7-10 seconds. Place the coated ice cream bar onto a lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ice cream bars.
5. Freeze the completed bars for another hour or so to firm them up again before serving.