CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
We are unabashed, die-hard chocolate lovers, so you might think that we love all chocolate ice cream. Not so. We are, in fact, so picky that it took us some time (and eating lots of chocolate) to create a chocolate ice cream we are happy with.
With your first spoonful, you’ll immediately realize this ice cream is a different beast altogether. This is a deep, rich chocolate ice cream, the most chocolatey chocolate ice cream we’ve ever had, as if you took a dark chocolate candy bar and made ice cream out of it. We use unsweetened 99% cacao Michel Cluizel chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder, which both deliver an intense chocolate taste. We keep the sugar to a minimum: enough to make the ice cream pleasantly sweet, but not nearly enough to make it cloying.
MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Immersion blender
1½ cups heavy cream
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 grams) sugar
½ teaspoon (2 grams) kosher salt
6 large egg yolks
2 ounces (56 grams) unsweetened chocolate discs (99% cacao), preferably Michel Cluizel (see Sources)
¼ cup (28 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Pour the cream and milk into a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water). Whisk in ¼ cup (50 grams) of the sugar and the salt and stir until both have dissolved. Warm the mixture until you see steam rising from the top.
2. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set another bowl over it. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, with a kitchen towel underneath it to prevent slipping, whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) sugar until uniform. While whisking, add a splash of the hot dairy mixture to the yolks. Continue to add the dairy mixture, whisking it in bit by bit, until you’ve added about half. Add the yolk mixture to the remaining dairy mixture in the double boiler. Set the heat under the double boiler to medium and cook the custard, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon and reducing the heat to medium-low as necessary, until steam begins to rise from the surface and the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Hold the spoon horizontally and run your finger through the custard. If the trail left by your finger stays separated, the custard is ready to be cooled. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the chocolate and cocoa powder until the chocolate has melted completely and, using an immersion blender, buzz the custard until it is uniform.
4. Strain the custard into the bowl sitting over the prepared ice bath and stir for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the custard has cooled. Transfer the custard to a quart-size container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or, preferably, overnight. When properly chilled and hydrated, the custard will be thick, like pudding.
5. Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the container in which you refrigerated the custard in the freezer so you can use it to store the finished ice cream. Churn the ice cream until the texture resembles “soft serve.” Transfer the ice cream to the chilled storage container and freeze until hardened to your desired consistency. Alternatively, you can serve it immediately—it will be the consistency of gelato. The ice cream will keep, frozen, for up to 7 days.
