Who Wants Ice Cream!

I've made vanilla, raspberry and peach ice cream this summer and they were really good, check out the recipes in some of my earlier blogs. This is the first time I made chocolate ice cream, and let me tell you it is AWESOME!  Rich double chocolate flavor and creamy texture, all in one. It's not hard to make at all and it is better tasting than store bought.  Recipe below.

Always use whole milk and heavy cream it has a lot to do with the texture.  Cream and milk heating together.

Chop up the semi - sweet chocolate.  It should look like this.

Add the rest of the ingredients and you have ice cream in the making.

Creamy and smooth and into a cold bath to cool off.

Cover the top by lightly pressing the plastic wrap onto the mixture so a skin does not form. Put into the refrigerator to thicken and then transfer to the ice cream maker.

Churn it up, freeze it and it's ice cream time!

Rich Double Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream, sometimes labeled whipping cream
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
4  1 oz. cubes of semi - sweet chocolate
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions
Combine the milk and cream in a large heavy saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.  In the meantime, very finely, chop up the chocolate cubes so they will melt easily.  When milk/cream is simmered, little bubbles around the edges but not boiling, turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa until there are no lumps and completely combined. Then add the chopped chocolate and whisk until melted.  Set aside.

Prepare a cold bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water. Set up another bowl with a mesh strainer on top.  Keep these to the side for use later.

Whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then gradually add the sugar until the mixture is very light yellow in color and becomes thick.  Slowly pour 1/4 of the chocolate milk/cream mixture into the egg/sugar combo, stirring quickly as you are pouring, so the eggs don't scramble. This is called tempering.  Once it is combined, pour that mix back into the saucepan with the remaining chocolate milk/cream mixture and stir everything together. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens, when you run your finger over the back of the spoon and the mixture does not run back together it's done.

Remove from the heat and pour through the mesh strainer that is over the bowl.   Lightly pushing with the back of a wooden spoon, press on the strainer so any remaining chocolate goes through it and there are no lumps. Scrape the bottom of the strainer.  Place the bowl into the ice cold water bath and let sit for 30 minutes to cool.  When cooled place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture so a skin does not form. Cover the bowl with another piece of plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for 4 hours.  Remove the plastic wrap and scrape any of the mixture off.  Churn according to your ice cream makers instructions. It should only take about 20 -30 minutes to churn.  Transfer into a covered container and freeze overnight.