Who doesn’t love chocolate ice cream?! This version has a deep chocolate flavor and creamy texture. Top with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry for an ice cream sundae!
My friend Audrey and I have a serious love for rich chocolate desserts and pretty much any homemade ice cream.
So when Audrey suggested that we make chocolate ice cream, I was all over it.
A Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
The credit for this recipe goes to Audrey, who has been making it for her family with great results.
My own meager contributions were to include some salt and instant coffee (both ingredients intensify the chocolate taste), and vanilla to help deepen the overall flavor of the ice cream.
The ice cream is rich, creamy, smooth, and super chocolate-y.
Tips for Making this Ice Cream
- Temper the eggs: Instead of adding the egg yolks directly to the hot chocolate mixture, which will cause them to curdle, temper them by whisking a little of the chocolate into the eggs first. This warms the eggs up so it’s less of a shock when you add them to the chocolate mixture.
- How to tell when the base is ready: The best way to tell when the base is ready is by checking the temperature, which should be 170°F. The base should have thickened slightly and will be just beginning to steam.
- Strain before chilling: Once your ice cream base has thickened, strain it through a fine mesh strainer. This catches any solids, like bits of egg that might have gotten a bit curdled.
- Blend if curdled: If too much of your custard base curdles you can sometimes save it by immediately cooling it down in a bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking, and then running it through a blender.
- Chill completely before churning: For the smoothest, creamiest ice cream, be sure to wait until it’s completely chilled before churning it. If you’re rushed for time, you can put the ice cream base, still in its bowl in the ice bath, in the freezer for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes.
Try these other ice cream recipes!
- Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
- Strawberry Ice Cream
- Coffee Oreo Ice Cream
- French Vanilla Ice Cream
- Coffee Ice Cream
Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
- Prep time: 1 hour
- Chilling time: total of 6 hours or overnight
- Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 quarts
Ingredients
- 4 ounces 60% baking chocolate
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups milk, whole or low fat
- 2 cups heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
- 3 egg yolks, whisked
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
1 Melt chocolate: Melt chocolate in a double boiler (you can use a makeshift double boiler by placing a metal bowl over a small saucepan of boiling water, just don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water).
2 Add boiling water, cocoa powder, half of the sugar: When the chocolate has melted, transfer to a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, turn heat to medium low, and add the boiling water, cocoa powder and half of the sugar. Whisk vigorously until there are no lumps. Remove from heat.
3 Finish making the chocolate mixture: Add the milk, 1 cup of the cream, remaining sugar, instant coffee (if using), and the salt to the chocolate base, and whisk vigorously until fully incorporated, then use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan.
When the chocolate base is smooth, set the pot over medium high heat and warm, stirring occasionally, until the base starts to steam.
4 Temper the egg yolks: Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Once the chocolate base has heated to point of being steamy, temper the eggs by slowly pouring some of the hot base into the eggs while whisking the eggs vigorously to prevent them from cooking.
Once you’ve incorporated about half of the base with the eggs, pour the egg mixture back into the pan with the rest of the chocolate base and stir to combine.
5 Heat the base until it starts to thicken, remove from heat, add chilled cream: Lower the heat to medium, and heat the base until it reaches 170°F. At this point the base will have thickened slightly and will just be getting steamy again. Remove from heat.
Stir in the remaining cup of cold cream, to prevent further cooking.
6 Strain out any solids, place in bowl in ice water bath, stir in vanilla: Pour the chocolate base through a mesh strainer into a bowl to strain out any solids or curds, and place bowl in an ice bath to speed up the chilling. Stir in the vanilla.
7 Chill the base completely: Chill ice cream base for several hours, preferably overnight, until completely chilled. (To speed up this process you can put the ice cream base, still in its bowl in the ice bath, in the freezer for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes.)
8 Process in ice cream maker: Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. If you like soft ice cream, eat immediately. Otherwise, transfer it to a freezer container and put it in the freezer for a couple hours to firm up.
Note that the ice cream may be quite hard when you first take it out of the freezer, so you may want to let it sit for a few minutes to soften before trying to scoop.
