Oreo Milk Ice Cream with Fierce Chocolate Tuile Cones

You may have heard of Momofuku's famed Cereal Milk, the outrageous (but oh-so-real and yummy) creation of Momofuku Milk Bar's pastry chef and owner, Christina Tosi. This imaginative woman also created the equally addictive-sounding Crack Pie and Compost Cookies. Well, enough said.

A while ago, I was surfing through the net when I came across this very interesting twist to Cereal Milk, which is much, much better. What's better than Cereal Milk, you ask? Why, Cereal Milk Ice Cream, of course! Well done, Cenk of Cafe Fernando for doing something to realize the fantasies of many a foodie across the globe. His post then got me thinking...what else tastes good dipped in milk? I think you see where I'm going with this, yes? Well, your second foodie fantasy is about to be fulfilled.

My tasting-brigade came early.... while the cones were just coming out of the oven.

If you have been eating your decent quota of Oreos, you will know that it is the only brand of cookies in the world that currently bear the unashamedly gimmicky tagline, "Milk's Favorite Cookie". Now I've seen Oreo ice cream before so that's no biggie, but they always seem to come as crushed Oreo-bits speckled against a white vanilla ice cream base. I was thinking more of an Oreo-flavored milk ice cream, but I wasn't going to wait around to let the Oreos steep in the milk. No, my way would be the impetuous woman's way!

That Oreo Milk resembled the shade of my kitchen counter in an oddly disturbing way...

I simply blended the Oreos, complete with filling, and used this 'Oreo Milk' to cook the custard base. I did wonder if the creamy filling was filled with something decadently unprintable because not only did it make the custard super-sweet (I reduced the sugar from 1/2 to 1/3 cup), it also thickened it super-quick. A bit too-scary quick. But maybe that was due to the flour in the Oreos too, now that I think about it.

 Custard before (L) and after (R) adding the heavy cream. 

The ice cream part was actually the boring bit of this whole process. While the custard was churning in the ice cream machine, its color started to turn paler by the minute. In fact, it began to look alarmingly like the shade of my facial mud pack! The thought of a mud-colored ice cream was disheartening, even though I was convinced that the taste was still going to blow me away. At that point, my natural (or is it trained?) fire-fighting ways kicked into gear.

I thought the mud-like ice cream needed something else to go with it to highlight its je ne sais quoi-ness....and so I decided to make my own cones. Fierce-looking chocolate ones, no less! I don't know how or where the 'fierceness' came from, but I was inspired to name it such from the red stripes, squiggles and dots that subsequently adorned the dark cones. I totally appreciate how inspiration can often come in the midst of a creation and while I embrace this gift fully, I do have to think up appropriate names for my edible 'Frankensteins' sometimes.

The easiest way I could think of to make cones was from tuile cookies, as they can be wrapped around a form while still warm (no, make that hot!) and take on the shape of that mold once cooled. To make the molds, I drew circles on cardstock paper using a CD as template, rolled them into cones and secured them with tape. Easy. The hard part was to actually roll the tuiles before they hardened into cookies, and I had all of 10 seconds to do that. Burnt fingertips are the hallmark of every successfully homemade cone! Hey, you've got to bear the battle scars before anyone can pronounce you glorious, right?

And just look at these glorious cones! 

Saved by the cone. 

Well, actually the Oreo Milk ice cream didn't need any saving. It was OMG-so-good by its own merit!

We had some babes (not the grown-up version, the few-month-old ones) over here last Monday, and while their mommies were enjoying my homemade ice cream, they happily sat drooling against a human cushion. Don't they look much yummier than my ice cream? ;-)

Happy after their Oreo Milk frozen treats. Ok, don't panic....we didn't give the babies any!

When you have this dreamy kind of dessert in your hand, you must have great music to accompany your eating experience. What better to listen to during your ice cream-licking reverie than something from my favorite schoolteacher in the whole wide world, Sting? Here I share two of his videos: 

The first is a soundtrack from the movie Kate and Leopold, also featuring my favorite actress and Aussie hunk (come on, we all have one!):

The second is a dance piece with Alessandra Ferri, which I find rather fascinating. Not for the fact that Sting is topless in this video (although yes, hmmm...) but because of the way this girl dances. If I can dance as exquisitely on my toes as she does, I wouldn't even be writing this food blog. Or be anywhere near food, for that matter. This is really lovely, so enjoy. Just.... don't let the ice cream melt.

Oreo Milk Ice Cream with Fierce Chocolate Tuile Cones

Oreo Milk Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Oreo Milk

yield: Approx 1 cup

1 cup whole milk

8-9 Oreo cookies

Ice Cream

Yield: Approx 3 cups

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup Oreo milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks

Method:

1. Prepare the Oreo Milk - Place Oreos (leave the filling in) and milk in blender and process for a 30 seconds to 1 minute until smooth. Strain the milk using a fine-mesh sieve and set aside.

2. Prepare the Oreo Milk Ice Cream - Pour the heavy cream into a medium bowl and place it in the fridge until needed. Combine Oreo Milk, sugar, salt and vanilla extract in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. In the meantime, in a medium pot, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Place over medium heat and stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

4. Pour the Oreo custard through a strainer into the chilled heavy cream and stir to combine.

5. Chill the mixture overnight (or for 45 minutes in the freezer) then churn it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop into an airtight container and place in the freezer to firm up further. Serve with chocolate tuile cones.

Fierce Chocolate Tuile Cones

Ingredients:

65 grams /¼ cup softened butter (not melted)

60 grams /½ cup sifted icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

65 grams /1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

A few drops of red food coloring

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C /350F. Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a smooth batter/paste. Be careful not to overmix.

2. Scoop out about 2-3 tablespoons of batter into a small bowl and add red food coloring. To the rest of the batter, add the cocoa powder and whisk quickly until well incorporated.

3. Cover the bowls with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up or for 10 minutes in the freezer (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Place two circle templates (about 4" in diameter) under the mat. Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate batter thinly on the mat. Leave some room in between your shapes. Place the red batter in a parchment-paper piping bag and pipe lines or dots on the circles.

5. Bake for about 5-6 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape into cornettes around the paper cone. Work fast as the tuile hardens in about 10 seconds. The tuiles are very hot so use an oven mitt to hold them around the cone while they set (10 seconds). Keep them in an airtight container until ready to use.

Paper cone molds

Trace a circle around a CD onto sturdy card stock paper (I used an old gift box). Cut around it, roll into a cone shape and seal edges with Sellotape. Make 2 of these.