Yes, you read that correctly: Jalapeño Popper Ice Cream! Why would I make this? It is honestly because I got a wacky idea one day and I just had to try it. When I thought of this idea, I had recently made my first jalapeño poppers and I was thinking about making some more to continue recipe testing them. While thinking about this, somehow jalapeño milk from the show “Impractical Jokers” popped into my head. For reference, Q (Brian Quinn) had to convince a panel of people that jalapeño milk would be a good product to sell in a grocery store. I then thought about how you can steep something in milk or cream to impart flavor to the dairy, which then made me think of steeping items, such as espresso or tea, in dairy to make ice cream. To take it a weirder step further, I thought “wouldn’t it be so interesting to make a jalapeno popper ice cream?” And that is precisely how the idea for the recipe and this video became a reality!
I also made a video featuring this interesting recipe!
Disclosure: There are Amazon affiliate links provided in the post below. If you click on any of the Amazon links and make a purchase, I do get a small percentage of the sale which helps me pay for my ingredients and my website. I genuinely use anything that I link, and I want to make it easy for you to find these ingredients and kitchen tools, too, if you want to utilize them!
Note: This recipe is NOT spicy! I removed almost all of the ribs and seeds of the jalapeños, which are the parts that contain the highest concentration of capsaicin. If you remove them, you are left with the flavorful part of the jalapeños and little to no spice. If you love spice, then you can certainly add more jalapeños with ribs and seeds to the ice cream base to make it spicier. Or you could even blend the ingredients together and keep the pepper in there for even more intense spice and flavor.
How I Came Up with This Recipe:
My primary task when starting this particular adventure involved figuring out how the heck to bridge the gap between savory and sweet with these particular items. Jalapeño poppers are typically made up of 3 basic components: jalapeños, cream cheese and/or cheese mixture, and some kind of coating — usually either a crispy batter or bacon.
First: Obviously jalapeños are the star of the show, which is why I steeped jalapeños in the ice cream base. This technique allows the ice cream base to take on the flavor of whatever is being cooked in it. To ensure that the jalapeños remained the key ingredient, I also created a jalapeño compote. Compote is simply fruit that has been cooked in sugar syrup, so I treated the jalapeños like any other fruit with which I’ve made a compote.
Second: We have the cream cheese or cheese component. I decided to just go with the cream cheese part, so I made a simple cheesecake. I only added a teeny tiny bit of vanilla to give it a hint of flavor, but not so much that it takes away the cream cheese flavor. I wanted that to stand out a little better than in a typical cheesecake.
Third: I thought that a breading coating would be a little too weird, so I went with bacon for the last piece of this strange, but hopefully tasty dessert puzzle. I decided to candy the bacon because not only would that help with bridging the gap between sweet and savory, but I had never had it before and I could finally try it! So, win win!
Jalapeño Ice Cream Base:
Print
Ingredients
3 cups half & half
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 jalapeños
1 cup granulated sugar
8 large egg yolks
Directions
- Add the half & half, heavy whipping cream, 1 jalapeño with the seeds and ribs removed, and 1 jalapeño that still has the seeds and ribs. Place the pan on the stove on a medium heat. Stir it occasionally while the mixture comes to a simmer.
- While the dairy mixture heats on the stove, add the granulated sugar and egg yolks to a medium size mixing bowl. Thoroughly whisk these ingredients together until they slightly lighten in color, about 1-2 minutes. It will go from a bright yellow color to a pale yellow color.
- Once the dairy mixture comes to a simmer, remove the pan from the stove and slowly add 1/3 to 1/2 of the warm dairy mixture to the egg mixture. Make sure to whisk constantly. Then whisk the remaining dairy mixture while adding the dairy and egg mixture back into the saucepan.
- Place the saucepan back on the stove over a low or medium-low heat and then whisk frequently while the mixture cooks. Whisk and cook the mixture until it slightly thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl with a strainer placed on top.
Add this mixture to an airtight container and let it cool without the lid on for about 30 minutes. Then, securely put the lid on top and place in the refrigerator for at least 12-24 hours. - Once the custard has set in the refrigerator and thickened, add it to your ice cream maker and let it process according to your particular ice cream maker’s manufacturer’s instructions.
Jalapeno Compote:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
2 cups (about 6 jalapeños) brunoised jalapenos
seeds and ribs removed
Directions
- To a medium-sized saucepan, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and water. Whisk together and then place the pan on the stove on medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- While the mixture on the stove is brought to a boil, mix together granulated sugar, cornstarch, and water. Once the mixture on the stove is brought to a boil, stir this secondary mixture into the saucepan on the stove and continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens and looks like a gel.
- Reduce to a medium-low heat and stir in 2 cups, about 6 jalapeños worth, or brunoised jalapeños. (A brunoise is a very small dice cut.) Cook for approximately 20 minutes while stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and place in an air-tight container (with the lid off) to let the compote cool for approximately 15-20 minutes, cover, and then place in the refrigerator.
Simple Cheesecake:
Note: You will only need about half of this cheesecake. The reason that I made a batch this size is because I wanted thicker pieces of cheesecake.
Ingredients
2 packs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a quarter sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and granulated sugar. Using a hand-held mixer, mix on a low speed until the ingredients are combined, and then mix on medium-high speed until they are light and fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Add the sour cream and mix until well combined. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix on a low speed until the mixture is well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until each is just combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter onto the tray and bake the cheesecake for approximately 45-60 minutes, or until the cheesecake is set in the center of the pan. Once the cheesecake is done, remove from the oven and set it aside to cool completely.
Candied Bacon:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray and then lay about 1 pound, or 10-12 pieces of bacon on the tray.*
- Lightly sprinkle about half of the ground black pepper over the pieces of bacon. Then, sprinkle a half cup of brown sugar over the top of the bacon pieces and then press it into the bacon to make it stick better. Flip the bacon over and once again sprinkle 1/8th teaspoon of black pepper and then ½ cup of brown sugar and press it into the bacon.
- Place that in the oven and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until the bacon pieces have completely browned. Make sure to flip it halfway through.
*Note: You only need about 8 pieces, but I decided to make extra because my family and I had never tried candied bacon.
Note: One thing I would change in the future is placing a cooling rack on top of the tray and the bacon on top of that. That way, as the bacon fat is rendered, it drips down and allows the bacon to get crispier because it is not just sitting in excess bacon fat.
Putting It All Together:
While the ice cream processes, finish preparing the rest of the ingredients. Chop the candied bacon into little pieces, and then cut the cheesecake into cubes, about ½ -3/4 of an inch in size.
Once the ice cream is done, add it to a large mixing bowl. Add all of the jalapeño compote, half or less of the total cheesecake pieces, and one half half to three quarters of the candied bacon pieces. Thoroughly mix everything together, and then pour the ice cream into an air-tight container and freeze for at least 2-3 hours to allow the ice cream to harden. Note: This ice cream got soft very quickly while I mixed everything together, so a lot of the pieces actually sunk to the bottom, but it still worked!
Thank you so much for checking out this post! Let me know in the comments if you try this ice cream and what you thought
