Almond Roca Ice Cream Sauce

A few weeks ago, I heard about Nuts.com's almonds project. I love almonds, so creating something delicious with them didn't seem too challenging.

And sure, there were lots of healthy things I could make with almonds. Because almonds are delicious and a super food and what not. But I still chose to make an ice cream topping with them.

I can't think of a good reason for this except for my low moral fiber (and awesomeness). But if you are a person of similarly poor character (and awesomeness), I can assure you that you'll really thank me for this recipe. Because it's pretty rocking.

I love Almond Roca. Yes, you could chop up Almond Roca and top your ice cream with that, but Almond Roca is more expensive than this. Furthermore, I was looking for something that could be drizzled--a sauce that embodied all the awesome that Almond Roca is. You're welcome.

Of course you don't have to eat it with ice cream. You could use it on pancakes or French toast. You could dip apples or fruit into this goodness. Or put it on plain yogurt. You're still welcome.

Almond Roca Ice Cream Sauce
makes 3-4 C
Prep/Cook time: 10 minutes
Cost: $4.75 (I know that sounds pricey, but this makes double or triple what you'd get if you went and paid for nutless, chocolateless store-bought ice cream topping. We halved it, which cost only about $2.40, which is about the same amount for about the same price as a store-bought sauce. And it had all those nuts and all that chocolate, which is reason for rejoicing and swooning)
corn syrup: .25, brown sugar: .30, butter: .20, milk: .10, almonds: 3.00, chocolate chips: .90

Note: I halved this and that was plenty for us.

1 C white corn syrup
1 C brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 C almonds, chopped
1 C milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bring corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, and milk to a boil. Do this gradually. If you boil foods with milk in them too quickly, the milk will curdle. I start it at low and let things melt, then up the heat to medium low and then medium. Don't go over medium.

Lightly boil for five minutes (that means that once it's boiling you might have to turn the heat down again). Stir constantly while it boils.

Add vanilla and nuts. Allow to mostly cool. Then add chocolate chips. You want them to remain mostly solid with maybe just a little tiny bit of chocolate melting in. (Note: If you don't have the patience of Job for goodness sake, and want to eat this RIGHT NOW, just put the chocolate chips on your ice cream, then pour the hot sauce on and the chips will soften and get just barely melty and everything will be right with the world. This is what I did and it was amazing.) (Another note: I suppose that you could just throw the chocolate chips into the hot sauce and swirl them in. This would probably create a pretty amazing chocolate caramel almond sauce, but I wanted the chocolate to have its own distinct place.)

Serve over ice cream. Die from happiness.

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