Fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream

Fresh mint steeped in cream, with crisp shards of dark chocolate.

Ice cream made with fresh mint tastes nothing like the green shop-bought kind flavoured with mint essence — it’s herbal, delicate and naturally creamy white. The leaves are steeped in warm, not boiling, milk so the flavour stays fresh rather than “stewed”. The chocolate is poured in melted as the ice cream freezes and breaks into crisp pieces.

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

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 550 g whole milk 3.5 %
  • 330 g whipping cream 33 %
  • 40 g fresh mint (leaves) (about 2 big handfuls of leaves, strained out after infusing)
  • 25 g skimmed milk powder
  • 140 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 35 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 70 g dark chocolate 70 % (melted, lukewarm)

Making the mix

  1. Rinse and dry the mint and pick the leaves from the stalks.
  2. Mix the skimmed milk powder and dextrose with the granulated sugar (mixed dry, they won’t form lumps).
  3. Heat the milk and cream in a pan to about 60 °C, then whisk in the sugar and milk powder mixture and keep stirring until it has completely dissolved.
  4. Heat the mix to about 75 °C (don’t boil it), take it off the heat, add the mint, cover and leave to infuse for 1 hour.
  5. Strain, pressing the leaves well with a spatula. Taste — for a stronger flavour, steep a fresh handful of mint for another 20 minutes.
  6. Cool the mix quickly in a bowl set in iced water.
  7. Cover 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. For the last 2 minutes of churning, pour in the melted chocolate in a thin stream; it will break into pieces.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer for 2 hours.

Total time: 8 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. For the last 2 minutes, with the machine running, pour in the melted chocolate in a thin stream.
  5. 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: 9 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. Use a spoon to dig a well about 4 cm wide in the centre, all the way to the bottom, add 2–3 tablespoons of melted chocolate or 30 g of chopped chocolate and run the Mix-in program.
  5. 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: 30 h 8 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. At the last stir, drizzle the melted chocolate over the ice cream, break it up with a fork and stir it in.
  5. 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: 10 h

Stages

Preparation
20 min
Cooking
10 min
Resting
1 h
Cooling
30 min
Ageing in the fridge
4 h
Churning
35 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
8 h 35 min

Serving and storage

Take it out of the freezer (−18 °C) and let it stand for 5–10 minutes until it scoops easily. It tastes best at −12 to −14 °C.

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

  • Peppermint or spearmint work best; apple mint and lemon mint taste milder.
  • If you want it green, blend a few fresh spinach leaves with a little of the chilled mix — it won’t change the flavour.
  • Don’t boil the mint or leave it steeping warm overnight, or it will taste grassy and bitter.

Sources