Cooking Tip of the Day: Recipe: Chocolate Ice Cream

I love to cook and bake… and I think I love my blog even more… not only do I get to cook… I get to eat it too… and I have to tell… man…I’m likin’ this series I’m doing on ice cream…

This week’s ice cream making installment begins with Chocolate Ice Cream… as promised… I am making Chocolate Ice Cream… luscious chocolaty Chocolate Ice Cream… I need to point out right up front.. as with Vanilla Ice Cream… ingredient quality reigns supreme… truly the most important factor in making the ice cream. To put it even more bluntly.. the quality of the chocolate matters.

Chocolate Ice Cream is well.. chocolate… no other flavors there to distract you… so it stands to reason you should get the very best quality chocolate you can find. For me… that chocolate is from Ghirardelli…. and probably the most surprising thing… the price difference between them and the other “baking” chocolate bars… a mere 30 cents … you need two of them… so 60 cents separates you from fabulous Chocolate Ice Cream and just another Chocolate Ice Cream… now my price comparison was done at Walmart… which had the best price around for any of the chocolate.

There are several other recipes I have for Chocolate Ice Cream … this one is the most basic and a great starter one… as I mentioned in a previous ice cream making post… this is very simple but it has a few additional steps than the Vanilla Ice Cream we went over about a week ago. This recipe is from Cuisinart.

TIPS

Well… as I mentioned before… use good quality and fresh ingredients.. you won’t be sorry you did.

I used semi-sweet chocolate by Ghirardelli for my ice cream… you can find it in the baking aisle at the grocery store.

Make sure you have had the freezer bowl in the freezer for at least 24 hours.

Resist the temptation to eat the entire bowl before putting it in the freezer… one taste… and I KNOW you will want to taste it… and you’ll want more.

So let’s get to some ice cream making….

Recipe: Chocolate Ice Cream

All you need:

1 cup whole milk
½ cup granulated sugar
8 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, broken into ½ inch pieces
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1-2 teaspoons vanilla (to taste)

All you need to do:

To get the batter ready:

Heat the whole milk until it’s just bubbling around the edges (you can do this on the stove top or the microwave… I did mine in the microwave).

In a blender or food processor (I used the food processor) fitted with a metal blade, pulse to process the sugar and chocolate together until the chocolate is very finely chopped (see photo).

Add the hot milk and process until well blended and smooth (see photo).

Transfer the chocolate mixture to a medium size bowl… and let the chocolate mixture cool completely.

Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla (add the vanilla to taste…I added 2 teaspoons).

Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or longer.

To make the ice cream:

Put the freezer bowl on the base… put in the mixing arm… put the lid on over the freezer bowl and lock into position.

Flip on the machine.

Pour the chilled chocolate mixture through the ingredient spout into the freezer bowl.

Process for 25 to 30 minutes (I did mine for 30 minutes).