Milk Chocolate Ice Cream
Remember the Frosty, the best thing about the square-hamburger chain, Wendy’s?
I’m not sure I would have gotten through college without them, and I’m certain that I wouldn’t have gained what ended up being closer to the freshman 50 than 15 without them, either.
I digress.
A few days ago, I realized that I’d somehow gone through the summer without making chocolate ice cream — or any ice cream, for that matter. I’d been incredibly lazy, and had only made frozen yogurt (which requires little more than peeling back the yogurt tops, dumping the yogurt into a bowl, and whisking in some sugar and vanilla). I’m not sure how I let this happen, but I wanted to mend my ways, crack some eggs, boil up some milk (whole), buy some cream, and get down to business.
Naturally, chocolate ice cream came to mind. As much as I heart chocolate, I’m not a deep dark chocolate ice cream fan, and I wanted to make something lighter. More Frosty-like.
I’d recently bought some Callebaut creamy, velvety milk chocolate pastilles (40.5 %) at G. Detou, and wanted to see how this would work, just on its own, without the added benefit of cocoa powder or unsweetened chocolate.
The recipe is a variation of the vanilla ice cream that my mom’s been making for years — there’s less cream in my version than my mom’s, simply because I like a lighter ice cream. Bonus: you can eat more of it.
How’d my first summer of ’10 homemade ice cream turn out?
All that was missing was the yellow cup.
Milk Chocolate Ice Cream
1 cup whipping cream
8 oz good-quality milk chocolate, such as Callebaut
3 cups whole milk
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1. Melt chocolate and cream in the top of a double boiler (or in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, being careful to not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl). When melted, remove from heat and set aside with a mesh strainer on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt.
3. Warm milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When it’s steaming, it’s ready. Note: you don’t want the milk to boil.
4. Temper the egg/sugar mixture by pouring a tiny bit of the milk into the bowl while whisking. Now, add the egg/sugar mixture to the milk, give it a stir, and cook for a minute or two until it thickens. When the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon, remove from heat, and pour into chocolate/cream through the mesh strainer.
5. Place the chocolate custard in an ice bath, and when cool, refrigerate for a few hours until you’re ready to make the ice cream. When it’s time, just follow the instructions for your ice cream maker.
