Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

When I asked my son what kind of ice cream I should make for his birthday, I was ecstatic to hear that he wanted chocolate. Back in January when I made ferrero rochet ice cream I found an amazing recipe for rich chocolate ice cream but with the added nutella it was just too sweet but without additives it has all the flavor and richness you could ever want. Go ahead, put it to the test. The original recipe (linked above) disappointingly only makes 1 quart. The way I see it is if I'm going to spend hours cooking and churning and waiting for it to set, 1 quart is just not going to cut it. So I calculated the ingredients around a quart of cream and a quart of milk  in order to utilized my ice cream maker to its fullest. Multiplied by 2.6 and rounded appropriately, I came up with this recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups whole milk
4 cups cream
1 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
10 oz semisweet chocolate finely chopped( I use mini morsels)

2 cups sugar
10 egg yolks

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1 Prepare an ice water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

2 Combine cream and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until incorporated. Add chocolate and whisk until completely melted and smooth; set aside.

3 Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about a quarter of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the hot mixture doesn’t scramble the eggs.

4 Pour chocolate-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the spoon, about 5 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the mixture, which should not run back in on itself.)

5 Remove from heat and strain through the prepared fine-mesh strainer. Stir vanilla extract into the chocolate base, then set the bowl over the ice bath to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.

6 Remove the chocolate base from the ice bath, cover, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

It was great. The whole family loved it. Thanks for reading. I haven't actually decided what flavor to make in April. Feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments.

Ferrero Rocher Ice Cream

Okay. I made Ferrer Rocher ice cream. It took me two trys to perfect it (otherwise I'd have actually posted this in January) but wow, it is amazing. I first found an incredibly delicious chocolate ice cream recipe online but when I added the hazelnuts and Nutella it was just to sweet. So, I proceeded to try it again with less sugar and semisweet chocolate,  this time doubling the recipe, when I realize I'm a half a cup short on cream. So, I just went along messuring the ratios to my best estament and toned it down appropriately. Now I can call it my own recipe. Yea! As for the first one I tryed, I shall not divulge that recipe until march because my son wants chocolate ice cream on his birthday. It's much more rich and fudgy than my adaptation. (pst, the Ferrero Rocher ice cream is still VERY rich. It has pieces of Nutella in it for cryin' out loud.)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream ( do not whip)
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

6 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup Nutella hazelnut spread
1/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions

Prep
Place Nutella in a small ziplock bag, flatten and freeze. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

1 Combine cream and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until incorporated. Add chocolate chips and whisk until completely melted and smooth; set aside.

2 Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about a quarter of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the hot mixture doesn’t scramble the eggs.

3 Pour chocolate-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the spoon, about 5 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the mixture, which should not run back in on itself.)

4 Remove from heat and strain through the prepared fine-mesh strainer. Stir vanilla extract into the chocolate base, then set the bowl over the ice bath to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.

5 Remove the chocolate base from the ice bath, cover, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze in an airtight container 3 hours.

6 This next part must be done quickly so the ice cream and nutella do not melt too much though it will melt a little. Remove Nutella from freezer, tare out of the bag and chop with a knife into blueberries sized pieces. Scoop ice cream into a generously sized bowl ( give yourself some mixing room) put hazlenuts and nutella pieces into the ice cream and stir to an even consistency. Replace in freezer till ice cream is fully set (probably over night) The ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Thanks for reading. I know you'll enjoy this one. February is going to be Strawberry Ice Cream and as I said before, March will be Rich Chocolate. Please feel free to comment any suggestions for flavors or for any other reason. ♡