Ingredients

Vanilla-Bean Ice Cream
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split
3⁄4 cup sugar
10 egg yolks

Toasted-Almond Sablé
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 vanilla beans
3 cups almonds, roasted in a 325-degree oven until golden brown, finely chopped
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

Chocolate Liquid Crunch
2 ounces bittersweet Valrhona 70 percent chocolate
1 1⁄2 ounces extra-bitter Valrhona 70 percent chocolate
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions

Vanilla-Bean Ice Cream
Bring the milk, cream, vanilla bean, and half the sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, cover, and allow to steep for 1 hour.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar until smooth and slightly thickened. Gradually whisk 1⁄3 of the liquid into the yolks, return this mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until it coats the back of the spoon. Strain this custard into a container, and chill in an ice bath. When the custard has cooled, cover it, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Transfer to an ice-cream machine, and process according to directions.

Toasted-Almond Sablé
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Beat together the sugar, butter, and salt in a mixer fitted with a paddle. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans into the creamed butter.

Add 2 cups of the chopped almonds, then mix in the cake flour until well combined. Roll this sablé dough into a 3-inch-diameter log, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 hours. Cut the log into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices. Place these sablé cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake until golden brown, about 8 to10 minutes. Cool the sablés on the sheet.

Chocolate Liquid Crunch
Melt the two chocolates together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, add coconut oil, and heat until dissolved. Keep the liquid lukewarm until ready to pour over the ice cream.

To Serve
Place one sablé on each plate, and top with a large rounded scoop of ice cream. Drizzle the chocolate liquid crunch over the ice cream until covered, and serve immediately.

(Published 2004)