Demystifying the Magic of Homemade Magic Shell

I believe ice cream is at its best when there’s an element of contrast. A shot of espresso that melts some of my scoop into a velvety puddle at the bottom of the bowl. A shower of candied nuts. A bite of a crisp sugar cone. A handful of crushed cookies, or a fistful of cereal (Captain Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch being standouts).

The charms of molten fudge or dulce de leche are undeniable, but I’m happiest with a topping that shatters. Enter magic shell, the pourable sauce, often chocolate-flavored, which miraculously hardens into a protective embrace around your frozen dessert.

Magic Shell the product is owned by The J.M. Smuckers Company (they also own the trademark on the name). Here, I’m talking about magic shell as a genre, a concept, a method. It’s more ubiquitous than one might think. The chocolate dip that enrobes your favorite soft-serve twist is a magic shell. The brittle shards in many stracciatella ice creams are magic shell fragments. A slick of magic shell is what keeps the cookie rubble in ice cream cakes crunchy. The snappy exterior of your ice cream bar is a magic shell.

It is a useful trick to have up your sleeve, and it’s shockingly easy to make.

At its most basic, magic shell requires two ingredients: chocolate and fat. The fat is most commonly one high in saturated fat specifically, because saturated fats melt and resolidify quickly. Coconut oil, for example, turns liquid at a relatively-low 76°F (that sloshing jar of coconut oil in your summer pantry is proof) and will firm up as soon as the temperature dips below that point (say, when it comes into contact with cold ice cream).

What’s more, while pure chocolate pours thickly, the oil dilutes the chocolate, allowing it to flow thinly and freely rather than pooling, which further hastens the hardening process and produces a final shell delicate enough to fracture with the tap of a spoon.

The point of making homemade magic shell, of course, is to tailor it and make it your own. Start by melting any variety of chocolate, from white to blond to milk to dark (but stop short of unsweetened). If desired, stir in candy melts, nut butters, or Nutella; extracts such as mint, citrus, or almond; freeze-dried fruit powders; or ground nuts. Then add anywhere between one-third to one-quarter by weight of coconut or other oil. (Besides coconut oil, sunflower and olive oil are the most foolproof; vegetable oil can work, but stick to a smaller amount. And keep taste in mind!) You can even forgo the chocolate entirely and use, say, a nut butter as your base (use coconut oil, and in generous proportion, if you go this route). That said, at least a small volume of chocolate helps ensure the smoothest and most opaque shell.

In creating a new magic shell, I had my new Double Ripple Ice Cream Cake in mind—thus my starting point was a base of tahini and ground walnuts. White chocolate brought body, milky notes, and sweetness, while coconut oil kept everything silky. Vanilla bean paste provided speckles to match the walnut flecks, and it seemed to amplify the creaminess of the chocolate. The ratio of ingredients yielded a satisfyingly crackly shell, with the faint sharpness of roasted nuts granting an unexpected elegance to the finish. It was particularly compelling drizzled into buckwheat honey ice cream, in a golden variation of stracciatella.

Homemade magic shell does not require refrigeration (unsurprisingly, it will transform into a veritable brick when chilled). Chocolate and coconut oil are stable, and can be kept safely in the pantry for weeks. To rewarm, either dip your jar in hot water until pourable, or microwave at medium-low heat at 30-second intervals, stirring in between each. The secrets of the shell thus revealed, make a batch, feel smug, stash it away, and voilà—magic on demand.

Tahini-Walnut Magic Shell

Originally Appeared on Epicurious