I’ll admit it, I have very rarely made homemade ice cream. It’s kind of odd given that…
1. I have a great ice cream maker.
2. I have incredibly fond memories from childhood of my Dad making his homemade ice cream (in the big wooden ice cream making machine).
3. My kiddo asks me all the time to make some.
I’m not sure why I don’t. I think it’s probably because most of the recipes have a lot of steps, and I have a seriously short attention span which tunes out after step seven of almost anything. Well that and the fact that seeing the amount of cream that goes into ice cream is a bit mind boggling. But… with the recent arrival of pretzel cones in this house, it was time to pull out the ice cream maker and get to work.
And I think it was worth it…
PRETZEL CONES FROM CONE GUYS
I tried my best to document every step of this recipe with photos, because I am apparently seven years old and have trouble staying focused on recipes that are all words and no pictures. This recipe is based on one from The Cilantropist for Dense, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream. I made a few slight alterations, but I have no doubt it’s mind blowingly delicious exactly as she has hers written.
It was amazing and incredibly decadent.
If you are looking for light and healthy recipes, just run away now. You’ve been warned. This is a once in a while treat, so if you want to indulge a bit than here we go!
Dark & Delicious Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from The Cilantropist
1 cup fat free or 1% milk
2 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream / heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of dark cocoa (you could use regular, but dark is awesome!)
2/3 cup sugar
5-6 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped (I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: Mix ins of your choice. I added mini peanut butter cups and chopped up chocolate chunks, but you could add almost anything. Or nothing at all. Whatever YOU like!
Optional: Pretzel Cones
I started by weighing and then chopping up my chocolate, which was the Pound Plus bar from Trader Joe’s and measuring out my ingredients. Turns out a pint of cream is equal to two cups. Love when things work out like that.
Once that was done, it was time to get to really get to work.
Place your milk in a medium size bowl. If you have a fine mesh strainer, place that over your bowl for later use. In a separate medium to large size bowl, whisk your two egg yolks and set aside.
In a large saucepan, combine your cream, cocoa powder and sugar.
Whisk the ingredients together to incorporate the solids.
Heat over medium high heat until just boiling, then remove the pan from heat and whisk in the chopped up chocolate in three additions, making sure that the pieces are dissolved before continuing.
After chopped up chocolate has been added, melted and dissolved into the mixture, take a ladle or large spoon and add a small amount of the warm mixture to your bowl with the beaten egg yolks (only a small amount to start unless you want chocolate cooked eggs). Whisk together well and then add the rest of the warm chocolate mixture to the yolks, whisking constantly.
Now return the chocolate and egg mixture to your saucepan and heat on medium high heat, while stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Remove pan from heat at that point.
At this point you are done with the stove. Yay! You will now pour your chocolate mixture into your bowl that contains your milk. If you have the fine mesh strainer, pour it through the strainer. This is to catch any tiny pieces of egg that might have ‘cooked’ in the process. If you don’t have a fine mesh strainer, don’t sweat it, it’s not that big of deal (unless you made scrambled eggs, then we may have some issues…).
Stir in the vanilla and salt until everything is smooth. Transfer your bowl to the fridge for a few hours to cool (at least 2-3 hours). After chilling in the fridge, it’s finally time to break out the ice cream maker. Pour your ice cream into the machine and follow the instructions that come with the machine (mine is super easy, you just turn it on – that’s it).
After the ice cream maker does it’s job, then it’s time to transfer to a container and put in the freezer. This is the point when I added in my mix ins, which were mini Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups and more of the chopped dark chocolate bar.
You could eat some right at this point, my daughter did. It is however very soft – like melting soft serve. Some time in the freezer definitely helps it achieve a more solid ice cream state.
And now that you’ve spent 5493 hours making ice cream (okay, maybe that’s a tad exaggerated) you get to enjoy it.
Oh. My. Word. Shut. The. Front. Door. This. Is. AMAZING.
Deep. Dark. Dense. Decadent. Delicious. Dreamy.
The pretzel cones are an amazing salty crunchy contrast to the luscious dark chocolate.
If you haven’t already, head over to this post and enter to win a prize package of the delicious salty pretzels (as well as M&M, chocolate chip and chocolate pretzels) from Fancy Flours.
Enjoy!
This looks heavenly!
I looks so delicious and its so hevenly.
I cant wait to make it,YUMMY!
Since I already have this Ice Cream maker, I am soooo ready to make the Choc. Ice Cream. My Hubby is not sold on Choc. Ice Cream………I win! I could almost be a spokesperson for the Ice Cream Maker; I love it! I have not seen the Pretzel Cones yet. Thank You for a reason to make a batch!!
I would love to try this recipe. Also, Enter me to be considered for the “Add-Ins”.
This looks beyond spectacular! YUM!
This looks so divine! Where can I buy pretzel cones?!
Aimee, check out this post to enter to win some as well as the details on where to buy!
I see the pound plus bar and I am so sold. This sounds so good!
Chocolate looks heavenly with pretzel cones 😉
First of all, I think I gained like 5 pounds just from looking at that…and I am ok with this…
I have the same ice cream maker, but I have not made ice cream in for-ev-er! This is going to happen in my house very very soon!
Chocolate is definitely my favourite flavour of ice cream. Your pictures look so tasty!
This sounds good. I love ice cream.
I bought an icecream maker a year ago. And still never used. Too many steps :O)
Holy smoly! This looks amazing!!! I love those pretzel cones…this is like the prefect combination of chocolate, crunch, and pb!
This looks so yummy I want to put in a ring on it. Instead, we made it our Make My Mouth Water of the week over at gimmesuga.tumblr.com. Thanks for sharing!
GimmeSugaBlog – first, thanks and second, that may be the best comment of the day. Yes, it’s worth putting a ring on it. 🙂 Have a great day!
This makes me want to go and buy an ice cream maker so I can make this!!
As the sole Chocolate Ice Cream lover in my family I would need to eat the whole batch. Good thing I read somewhere (positive it was on the internet somewhere!) that when you chop up chocolate for recipes like this all the calories flow out so it’s like eating fat free chocolate. The source could have been wrong, but I like to believe that things I read on the internet (especially stuff like that) are true!
Love your Blog. Quick Question concerning Ice Cream Mix Ins. I love making Cupcakes and Cookies but it’s just the two of us in the house and 12-16 cupcakes or cookies are a lot. I’ve thought about only baking half of that weeks recipe for enjoyment that day, and then using the left over batter or dough as a mix-in for an ice cream. Thoughts, or concerns in doing this? My main concerns are any cookie dough recipes with eggs in them? So for those I think I’ll just stick to freezing the dough and making fresh cookies daily, but any problems with using cupcake batter?
Danny, in theory yes – the eggs could be an issue. That said, I’ve tasted plenty of cookie dough in my day and lived to tell. Cupcake batter I’m not so sure on how it would handle freezing and thawing. You might find some other fun options for cookie dough in this post… http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2011/07/16/cookie-dough-recipes-bites-from-other-blogs/ as well. 🙂
This has to be the most amazing idea, ever! Salty, sweet… ice cream cones. Mmm!
Is the chocolate semi sweet chocolate or bitter sweet chocolate. We do not have traders joe in my area. What kind of chocolate would you recommend. Looks soon good. Need just a little more info on chocolate to buy
What a perfect combination of flavours! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ll be featuring it in my News of the Day today.
hey, we actually just attempted to make this ice cream and although the flavors are fantastic, it hardens up so fast with the chocolate in our ice cream maker that it won’t actually churn. We don’t really know what to do with it anymore, the second it gets placed in our frozen ice cream maker…pot the mixture freezes and starts getting chunky and then jams the ice cream maker…any suggestions?
Ashley, hmm, I’m not sure. Usually it’s more the opposite with problems with ice cream not hardening up. This post might be helpful, sounds a bit like the same issue… http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/754540
How much ice cream does this make?
My machine is only 1 litre, will I need to adjust the quantity?
(Hoping to make this with a dark choc and walnut swirl for my boyfriends birthday)
Messy Diner, I don’t recall exactly. I have the standard size Cuisinart, which I’m guessing is a pretty common recipe size… http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice-Sorbet/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1350326022&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=cuisinart+mice+cream
Hi! Thank you so much for the recipe! I just had a quick question: I don’t eat eggs, but I really want to make this. Are they particularly essential? If so, could you possible recommend a suitable substitute? Thank you!
Very nice and coloured blog full of yummy recipes! It s my first time in here and I can-t wait to read it all!
This ice cream is incredible made it following the directions exactly. I did not use an ice cream maker and it came out excellent. I set the finished concoction in the freezer for a half an hour mixed, 15 min then mix until it wasnt able to be mixed anymore, then left to harden fully over night. Outstanding, will be a regularly used recipe for years to come. given the apocolype doesnt occur in the next few months… lol
ice cream makers don’t ship to Sri Lanka:(:(:( sucks for me. but this looks absolutely delicious+ i can’t find a recipe that doesn’t use an ice cream maker
I can’t believe how amazing this recipe sounds! Love the idea of a pretzel cone.
Done, chilling in the fridge and ready for the ice cream maker. It already tastes unreal. Thanks for the recipe and will let you know how it turns out. We are planning to put some chocolate chips in it we cut from a dark chocolate bar.
Tammam, enjoy – it truly is amazing! 🙂
I made this last night and it is beyond yummy!!! Now I just have to get my hands on those pretzel cones….
Naz, so glad you liked it! It’s SO good! And yes, those pretzel cones… takes it to a whole other level!
I have made this recipe several times in the past nine months and I have yet to find a person that doesn’t like it. People beg me to make it and I am more than happy to oblige. I thought it would much more difficult to make ice cream but it’s not and it’s so much better than more of the offerings at the market. Thank you so much for this recipe!