CCHHOOCCOOLLAATTEE!!!!

So my friend at Duff ABC’s was visiting last week and we had a wonderful time skimming through the Daring Bakers monthly challenges. We considered asking them if we could join but decided that we’d want to repeat some of the recipes, but wouldn’t want to do some of them. SO we decided to do something similar ourselves. Not only will it be desserts, but just random things we’ve been interested in learning. So this month we’re starting pretty basic, with some Ice cream we actually made together last week (but I had to remake it tonight for pictures– DARN). Here is a direct link to My ABC’s Ice Cream Post

Best Ever Chocolate Ice Cream

1 Cup Whole Milk
2 Cup Heavy Cream
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Cocoa
3 oz. Chocolate (I like DARK)
4 Egg yolks
Pinch of Salt

1. In a sauce pan, whisk together the Milk and Cream with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth. Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Drizzle a little bit of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring to combine, then add the egg yolks in a slow stream back into the milk in the saucepan. Return the pan to the heat and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let boil or it will curdle. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately stir in the chopped chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is melted and combined.
2. Place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Now my manufacturer claims it only takes 25-30 mins, and usually that’s about right, but this one took about 35-40. I’m not sure if maybe I just didn’t cool it long enough (I just couldn’t wait the 4 hours, but I put it in the BACK of the fridge, where things tend to freeze…), or if it’s just so THICK and CREAMY that it needs longer to crystallize (or whatever the reaction is) into Ice Cream. It also didn’t fluff up as much and make as big of a batch as my normal recipes. I also normally don’t use the “cooked” ice cream recipes, but this one is SO worth it. I just have to remember to give myself more time.

The first time I did it perfect, this time I was making cake and icing and dinner and was a little off and accidentally added the eggs at the beginning instead of boiling first. I can definitely see a difference, but the taste hasn’t been compromised. It’s much runnier, and the texture is a little on the grainy side. So I’m make SURE I boil first then add the eggs next time.

**Update** So I waited a day and tried it AND it’s great, I still liked the first batch better, this one melts faster, but isn’t grainy like I expected it to be. And it’s great with my Marshmallow frosting!

Thank you to Desert Candy for the recipe and her 21 days of Ice Cream in Aug.