Chocolate frozen custard

Dark, thick and glossy: cocoa, dark chocolate and six egg yolks. For chocolate lovers.

Combining cocoa and chocolate gives the deepest flavour: cocoa brings intensity, chocolate brings cocoa butter and smoothness. With six yolks you get a thick, almost pudding-like custard. Cocoa butter sets hard when frozen, so the recipe uses less cream and more milk to keep the custard from being heavy.

Type: Frozen custard · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Moderate

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 500 g whole milk 3.5 %
  • 250 g whipping cream 33 %
  • 30 g skimmed milk powder
  • 30 g cocoa powder (10–12 % fat)
  • 70 g dark chocolate 70 % (chopped)
  • 120 g egg yolk (6 yolks)
  • 140 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 40 g dextrose (glucose powder)

Making the mix

  1. Mix the cocoa, milk powder and dextrose together dry. Heat the milk and cream, add the dry mix and bring almost to the boil, whisking constantly.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar (or the part of it the recipe specifies) until pale and foamy.
  3. Whisking constantly, pour about a third of the hot milk mixture onto the yolks in a thin stream, then tip everything back into the pan.
  4. Stir over a low heat with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens and reaches 82–84 °C (it coats the spoon and a line drawn with your finger holds). Don’t let it boil, or the yolks will curdle.
  5. Immediately strain the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl set in iced water.
  6. Stir the chopped chocolate into the hot custard until it has melted. Blitz briefly with a stick blender.
  7. Cool the custard, stirring now and then, press cling film directly onto the surface and age in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch on the ice cream maker 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Pour in the chilled mix no higher than the fill line (with a smaller bowl, churn in two batches) and churn for 25–35 minutes, until it is thick and glossy and holds its shape like soft-serve.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer for an hour.

Frozen custard should contain very little air. Churn only until it is thick and glossy, no longer — a long churn just beats in unnecessary air.

Total time: 6 h 35 min

Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker

  1. Take the frozen bowl out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
  2. With the machine running, pour in the chilled mix — no more than two-thirds full; freeze the rest as a second batch.
  3. Churn for 20–30 minutes, until the ice cream thickens. There’s no point going longer — by then the bowl has warmed up.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container and leave to harden in the freezer for an hour.

Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours beforehand (until you can no longer hear the coolant sloshing inside). The mix must be thoroughly chilled.

Total time: 6 h 30 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Divide the chilled mix between CREAMi tubs, filling each no higher than the MAX line (a full batch makes about two standard tubs).
  2. Put the lids on and freeze on a level surface for 24 hours.
  3. Place a tub in the machine and run the Gelato program.
  4. If the ice cream is crumbly or powdery, run Re-spin (many users add 1–2 tablespoons of milk first).

Programme: Gelato

Only some models (such as the Deluxe range) have a Gelato program. If yours doesn’t, use the Ice Cream program. A standard tub holds about 470 ml, a Deluxe tub about 700 ml. Don’t fill above the MAX line, and freeze it level — the machine doesn’t handle an uneven block well.

Total time: 29 h 10 min

Stages

Preparation
15 min
Cooking
20 min
Cooling
30 min
Ageing in the fridge
4 h
Churning
30 min
Hardening in the freezer
1 h
Total time
6 h 35 min

Serving and storage

Serve soft, with hot chocolate sauce and toasted nuts, or simply with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.

Up to a week in a sealed container with cling film on the surface. Thanks to the yolks it stays smooth longer than egg-free ice cream, but it’s best on the day it’s made.

Tips

  • The cocoa must come to the boil with the milk, otherwise the custard will taste powdery.
  • The mix is already thick before churning — with a freezer-bowl ice cream maker, churn a smaller batch.
  • A pinch of salt and a teaspoon of instant coffee deepen the chocolate flavour even further; you’ll barely taste the coffee.

Why it works

Total solids are at the upper limit (around 44 %) — cocoa, chocolate and yolks add plenty of solids and little water. As a result, little ice forms and the custard is smooth, but also dense. Dextrose keeps it scoopable despite the cocoa butter setting hard.

Sources