Homemade Creamy And Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

My daughter Randi and her husband Dan bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday last year.  I just never got around to using it until last week. I used a recipe I found for chocolate ice cream from a blog called amandascookin.com, and she got her rccipe from David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop.  I followed the recipe she posted on her blog almost exactly.  The ice cream came out chocolaty, creamy, and absolutely delicious!  And it was very easy to make as well, which is surprising when you taste how delicious this is.

Ingredients: 

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used King Arthur’s Dark Dutch Cocoa)
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used King Arthur’s Bittersweet Chocolate Chips- and I did not chop them)
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks (I used extra large, as that was what I had on hand)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I used pure)

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

In small saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, and salt.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula ( I used a wooden spoon), scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  (I followed the directions on my Cuisinart ice cream maker which said to churn for 30 min.) (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)  Then spoon into freezer-proof container or containers, and freeze until firm- a few hours.)