Ice Cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons espresso powder
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Kahlúa
1 1/4 cups heavy whipped cream
1/2 cup toasted, chopped almonds (you will need about 2/3 whole almonds)
Fudge Sauce
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Prepare the ice cream base
In a medium saucepan, begin to heat the whole milk over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and espresso powder and continue to heat, stirring frequently until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside. In an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they become light and fluffy with a pale yellow color. Reduce mixer speed to medium and slowly pour in the hot milk. Continue to mix until mixture is well blended and then return the custard base to the saucepan. Don't worry if the mixture gets a little frothy, it will settle down during heating. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches about 165° F. Remove from heat and pour through a chinois to remove any egg bits. Place the custard base in an ice bath and chill.
While the custard base is cooling, prepare the fudge sauce
Combine sugar, cocoa, evaporated milk and corn syrup together in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to boil. Don't worry, the cocoa will all eventually dissolve and the graininess will disappear. Boil for 5 minutes to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla, which actually thickens it a little bit more. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
Fold in whipped cream and freeze the ice cream.
Once the custard mixture has cooled to about 45° F, add the Kahlúa to the chilled ice cream base and stir until blended. Pour the heavy whipping cream into a chilled mixing bowl and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chilled ice cream base and pour into ice cream maker. Freeze ice cream according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
While the ice cream is freezing, chop and toast the almonds
In a small food processor, chop the almonds until pea sized. The volume of almonds is small enough that you could also chop them with a knife. Pick out any large chunks to chop again and then use a collander to help remove the fine powder. Spread the almonds in an even layer and bake for 5 minutes in a 350° F oven (a toaster oven works fine).
Let ice cream firm up in the freezer for an hour
Once your ice cream maker has done its job, transfer the ice cream to a dedicated, odor free container to ripen in the freezer for one hour. This will prevent the almonds from sinking and the fudge sauce from dissolving.
Layer the almonds and fudge sauce
Remove the ice cream from the freezer and spoon a generous layer into another container. Spread or scoop some of the fudge sauce over this layer and then sprinkle some of the toasted almonds over the fudge sauce. Repeat this layering process until all the ice cream, almonds and fudge sauce are used up. Plunge or drag a spoon across the layered ice cream several times to help mix up the layers, but don't overdo it (those fudge veins are the best part!). Return to the freezer and let ripen for several hours or overnight until firm before serving.