Chocolate ice cream

Deep chocolate flavour from both cocoa and dark chocolate, softened with three egg yolks.

Cocoa brings a bold, slightly bitter flavour; chocolate adds cocoa butter and richness. Cocoa butter sets hard when frozen, so this ice cream has less cream than vanilla — otherwise it would be heavy and hard. Three yolks emulsify the mix and a pinch of salt brings out the cocoa. Cocoa and chocolate add no milk solids, so skimmed milk powder makes up the difference.

Type: Classic cream ice cream · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Moderate

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 500 g whole milk 3.5 %
  • 250 g whipping cream 33 %
  • 25 g skimmed milk powder
  • 30 g cocoa powder (10–12 % fat) (Dutch-processed (alkalised) is milder)
  • 80 g dark chocolate 70 % (chopped)
  • 60 g egg yolk (3 yolks)
  • 130 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 35 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 1 g salt (a pinch)

Making the mix

  1. Mix the cocoa, milk powder, dextrose and half the granulated sugar together dry.
  2. Heat the milk and cream in a pan, add the dry mix and bring almost to the boil, whisking constantly, until the cocoa has fully dissolved.
  3. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar (or the part of it the recipe specifies) until pale and foamy.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Immediately strain the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl set in iced water.
  7. Stir the chopped chocolate and salt into the hot custard until the chocolate has melted. Blitz briefly with a stick blender for an even smoother result.
  8. 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 30–40 minutes, until it has the consistency of thick whipped cream.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer for 2 hours.

Total time: 7 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 3 hours.

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: 8 h 25 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 Ice Cream program.
  4. If the ice cream is crumbly or powdery, run Re-spin (many users add 1–2 tablespoons of milk first).

Programme: Ice Cream

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 5 min

Method — No-machine method

  1. Pour the chilled mix into a deep metal or glass container (a baking dish, for example) and put it in the freezer.
  2. After 45 minutes, stir the mix thoroughly with a whisk, spatula or stick blender, working the frozen edges into the centre.
  3. Repeat every 30 minutes, 4–5 times in all, until the ice cream is thick and smooth.
  4. Leave to harden for another hour.

Without a machine you get more ice crystals and less air, so the ice cream is denser. Every stir breaks up the crystals, so don’t skip any.

Total time: 9 h

Stages

Preparation
15 min
Cooking
15 min
Cooling
30 min
Ageing in the fridge
4 h
Churning
35 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
7 h 35 min

Serving and storage

Let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes — chocolate ice cream sets harder than vanilla. Serve with whipped cream, raspberries or sour cherries.

In a sealed container with cling film pressed onto the surface it’s best within a week; after that, ice crystals start to build up. Never refreeze ice cream that has melted.

Tips

  • Bring the cocoa almost to the boil with the milk — only in hot liquid does its flavour fully develop, with no lumps left behind.
  • Use chocolate you would happily eat on its own; cheap chocolate made with vegetable fats will spoil the ice cream.
  • For an even more chocolatey result, stir in 50 g of chopped chocolate at the end of churning.
  • Cocoa is 30 % fibre and high in solids — so the recipe needs no extra cream and no stabiliser.

Why it works

At freezer temperature cocoa butter is completely solid, so it firms up ice cream more than milk fat does. That’s why the recipe has less cream and a little more dextrose, which lowers the freezing point and keeps the ice cream scoopable. Cocoa fibre and starch bind water much like a stabiliser.

Sources