Chocolate Ice Cream

I always get the "ice-cream making bug" during the summer.  This year I've held off making some due to a lack of freezer space, but luckily Kyle and I ended up buying an upright freezer (we've been looking into buying a used one for some time now).

Seeing all the open freezer space and planning a football draft party menu gave me the perfect excuse to whip up some recipes.  This recipe is very decadent.  My original plan was to try some Philadelphia-Style ice cream (ice cream without eggs), but halfway through the recipe I realized I opened to the wrong page and was actually making a custard-based recipe.

Although I had to spend more time cooking the custard the end result was totally worth it.  This ice cream is rich, thick, and will satisfy your chocolate cravings with just one scoop.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes About 1 Quart

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

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 low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.  Remove from the head and add the chopped 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 that bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  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 medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla.  Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or until cool enough to place in the refrigerator.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, ,whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)

Source: adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz