Chocolate Ice Cream

During the summer I love to have some sort of Ice Cream, Popsicles, or the like on hand for those hot summer days. It really comes in handy to cool you down after a long day outside and kids adore ice cream. This Ice Cream is so creamy and chocolatey and you can serve it in a bowl with your favorite toppings or in a cone. Either way, it is so good.

You can put this in two containers (covered) and keep it in the freezer and have it on hand during the week. So, let’s make some tasty Ice Cream.

INGREDIENTS:

4 Egg Yolks
3/4 Cup. Sugar
3 Cups. Milk
2 Cups. Cream
1/3 Cup. Cocoa Powder ( I use Dutch processed organic)
5 Oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Chunks
1/4 Tsp. Kosher Salt
1/2 Tsp. Instant Coffee or Instant Espresso Powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. The day before place the Ice Cream insert into the freezer to freeze. You want it nice and frozen solid before using it.
2. The morning of or the day before: In a bowl combine the egg yolks and sugar. Blend together with a hand-held blender until pale yellow and thick. Set aside.
3. In a large saucepan combine the milk, cream, cocoa powder, salt, and instant coffee/espresso powder and whisk together until smooth. Keep stirring until it comes to a simmer. Turn the heat off.
4. To the egg mixture: While whisking, ladle in a few ladles full of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until you have added about 1/3 of the mixture to the egg mixture. This is called tempering. Once the egg mixture is hot and smooth you can pour the mixture back into the pan with the chocolate mixture while whisking. This prevents the eggs from cooking and becoming scrambled.
5. Turn the heat back on to medium-low to low and stir constantly until the mixture becomes thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. This should take about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Once thickened, you can pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl to remove any bits if you would like to. I do this just to be sure there are no scrambled bits in the mixture.
7. Add the chocolate chips/chunks and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture to melt the chocolate and make the mixture smooth and creamy.
8. Cover the custard with plastic wrap making sure to place the plastic wrap directly onto the custard. This keeps the custard from getting that film on the top. Let the mixture come to room temp. About 2 hours.
9. After it has come to room temp place it in the freezer for 1 hour and then in the fridge for the remainder of the time. I usually keep it in the fridge for about 4 hours or until after dinner.
10. When ready, place your insert onto your Ice Cream maker and turn it on. You want the insert to be moving so the paddle does not become stuck and you get a smooth and creamy Ice Cream. Pour your custard into the Ice Cream maker and let the machine run for about 25 to 30 minutes.
11. When the Ice Cream becomes thick and creamy you can remove the Ice Cream from the maker and place it in a freezer-safe container and cover it with a lid and let freeze until you are ready to serve. Let the mixture thaw a few minutes before serving if it has been in the freezer overnight.

• ADD-INS:
• Chocolate chips (semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or any flavor you like)
• Chopped cherries
• Chopped Maraschino cherries
• Chocolate chunks (semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or any flavor you like)
• Replace the cocoa powder with Mexican hot chocolate mix for a Mexican spice flavor ( so good)
• Chopped nuts
• Add more chocolate chips to the mixture and melt (1 cup) for a super chocolatey flavor.
• Chopped strawberries
• Chopped bananas, chocolate chips, nuts, cherries, and a chocolate drizzle for a “chunky monkey” style ice cream.
• Chopped cookies ( Oreos, biscotti, nutter butter cookies, lotus cookies, or other cookies that you like)
• Replace the cocoa powder and chocolate chips with 2 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips (1 bag) for a white chocolate Ice Cream.