Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Dark chocolate makes me happy. I just love it!  I am always looking for more ways to incorporate it in my dessert making. Now that Hershey's sells dark cocoa powder, I can be creative in making dark chocolate desserts.  So I decided to make dark chocolate ice cream. I have never had dark chocolate ice cream before and boy was it good!  This ice cream is smooth and creamy and I love the dark chocolate aspect.

If you don't like dark chocolate just use regular or dutch cocoa powder. It's a delicious recipe and you will love it!

Just a note about this recipe. After you make the ice cream mixture you will refrigerate it for a couple of hours or overnight. Then right before churning it you will add the vanilla. Do not forgot this step. Trust me. It makes a big difference!  This is also a great ice cream base recipe for adding in any mix-ins you would like.

Enjoy!

One Year Ago: Dark Double Chocolate Brownies
Two Years Ago: Fudgy Homemade Brownies

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Adapted from Sweet Cream & Sugar Cones
Ingredients:
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup special dark cocoa powder, measured then sifted
1 cup 1% or 2 % milk
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up, then whisk in half of the sugar (6 tablespoons). Set aside.

In a heavy stainless steel pan, combine the cocoa powder with the remaining sugar (6 tablespoons).  Whisk in about 1/4 cup of the milk to make a paste, adding a little more of the milk as needed to make it smooth and uniform. Whisk in the remaining milk, the cream, and salt and put the pan over medium-high heat.  When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.

Carefully scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture and whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks.  Repeat, adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream to the bowl with the yolks. Returning to the pan of cream on the stove, use a heatproof spatula to stir the cream as you slowly pour the egg and cream mixture from the bowl back into the pan.

Continue to cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, coats the back of the spatula, and leaves a clear mark when you run your finger across it.

Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer and into a clean container.  Set the container into an ice bath, wash your spatula and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool.  Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To freeze:  Add the vanilla to the base and stir until blended.  Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.  While the ice cream is churning, put the container you'll use to store the ice cream into the freezer.  Enjoy right away or, for a firmer ice cream, freezer for at least four hours.