Photography © Maree Homer

Dairy milk chocolate ice cream

This rich, smooth-as-silk chocolate indulgence is sure to become a household staple. Sorry.

Makes 1 litre (35 fl oz)

300 ml (10½ fl oz) thin (pouring) cream

400 ml (14 fl oz) full-cream milk

8 egg yolks

60 g (2¼ oz/¹/₃ cup) brown sugar

75 g (2¾ oz/¹/₃ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

1½ teaspoons good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

½–1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

200 g (7 oz) good-quality milk chocolate, chopped

Put the cream and milk in a saucepan. Bring almost to the boil over medium–high heat, then remove from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, brown and caster sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla until well combined. Gradually pour in the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly until smooth.

Pour into a clean saucepan and stir over medium–low heat for 12–15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened to a thin custard consistency and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, then add the chocolate and stir until it has melted and the custard is an even colour. Cool slightly, then strain into a bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours, or until cold.

Set up an ice cream machine and churn and freeze the mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (Alternatively, you can pour the custard mixture into a large shallow cake tin and freeze for 2–3 hours, or until just frozen around the edges. Whisk to evenly distribute the ice crystals through the mixture. Repeat this every hour until the mixture is frozen and evenly textured.)

Transfer to a 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cup) plastic container. Smooth the surface over, top with a sheet of baking paper, then pop the lid on. The ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 1 week, but tastes best if eaten within a few days.

Choc my world!

Milky white

Use good-quality white chocolate instead of dark, and use only caster sugar.

Dark side of the moon

Use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, and use only brown sugar.

Milk chocolate choc-chip

Add a handful of chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate to the ice cream just before the final stages of churning, while the ice cream is still soft enough to mix them through.

Choc mint chip

Add a handful of scrunched fresh mint leaves into the initial milk mixture and allow to infuse with the vanilla. Add some dark chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate in the final stages of churning.

Choc à l’orange

Infuse 3 teaspoons orange zest in the custard base and use dark chocolate.

Choc malted

Once the chocolate has melted, stir 2–3 tablespoons malt powder into the custard and whisk until completely dissolved.

Rocky road

Just as the ice cream is firming up, stir in chopped Marshmallow, nuts, glacé cherries and toasted shredded coconut.

Scorched almond

Stir Chocolate syrup and toasted almonds through the ice cream just as it is firming up.

Chocolate ginger

Stir chopped Crystallised ginger through the ice cream just as it is firming up.