Fantabulous Chocolate Custard Ice Cream

I admit; I love ice cream, especially homemade custard ice cream varieties. Most of all, I love chocolate flavors. I have been tweaking my recipe for chocolate ice cream for several years now and finally have found a balance of ingredients which highlight the chocolate flavor. I used a couple of “hacks” from my hot cocoa recipe which worked perfectly. My basic custard ice cream recipe is creamy and smooth. I used this for “Fantabulous Chocolate Custard Ice Cream.” Custard ice cream recipes do take a little more time and effort, but I am always pleased with the results. Best of all, this custard is “low-fat.” The recipe contains no heavy cream — just milk — you would never know; it is delicious and much healthier than the store-bought varieties.

Family of Ice Cream Lovers

It seems that everybody in our family likes ice cream. When my parents and father-in-law came to visit at the same time — from Virginia and Houston, Texas — the two gentleman would leave the house for several hours in the afternoons. When they returned home, the joke was what they were out searching for ice cream stores. My husband continues that tradition and he would eat ice cream every day of the week if possible. While my ice cream is low in fat; it does contain calories in sugar and cholesterol in egg yolks. So, let’s use common sense when eating any type of sweet. I have to remind my husband of that general concept, occasionally.

Let’s Use those Egg Yolks

I am not wasting egg yolks given the high price of eggs these days. My recipe in March for “Green Poke Cake” used four egg whites which left me with a good reason to find a recipe for using the egg yolks. That sounds like an excuse for making my favorite custard ice cream recipe. This recipe it just happens to use four egg yolks. Although the mixture does include egg yolks, there is no cream in this recipe. Only Fairlife milk and evaporated milk. Amazing!

There are so many ingredients you can add to flavor custard ice cream. Fruit such as strawberries, blackberries, cherries or blueberries make great ice creams. My lime gelato recipe is pretty good, too! Or add in nuts, flavor extracts, liqueurs. The best flavor, in my opinion, is chocolate.

Although I love chocolate ice cream, it can be a little tricky to make. Cocoa powder can be difficult to dissolve in milk — it just floats on top of the milk. Plus, cocoa powder leaves a bitter taste. Chocolate bars may also be difficult to dissolve. Sometimes the chocolate flavor is not too intense.

Recipe “Hack” to make a Better Chocolate Ice Cream

I decided to use the same approach and basic ingredients as used in my favorite “Hot Cocoa” recipe, just adjusting the quantities for the larger ice cream recipe.

The trick to using cocoa powder is to “dissolve” it in a small amount of Steene’s cane syrup (or molasses). Then it will easily mix into the ice cream custard rather than float on top or clump. The rest of the recipe is a breeze.

Espresso Powder is the “Secret” Ingredient

Here are the ingredients for the “chocolate infusion.” To minimize the amount of cocoa powder in the recipe, I also used a special dark chocolate bar. The other ingredients included Steen’s cane syrup, espresso powder and vanilla extract. The espresso powder is the “secret” ingredient. It helps intensify the chocolate flavor and really makes a difference in the flavor.

Making the recipe

This is a cooked custard recipe. That means beating egg yolks and sugar together (by hand or with an electric mixer) until the mixture is pale yellow and smooth. Then scald milk over low heat on the stove. Slowly thin the pale egg/sugar mixture with the scalded milk. Cook until the egg custard thickens. It should coat the back of a spoon. Do this over low heat so the custard doesn’t curdle.

Then add the cocoa slurry, finely chopped chocolate bar and vanilla extract and cook for only 30 seconds to one minute to dissolve the chocolate. Transfer to a non-metalic bowl and chill for several hours in the refrigerator. (The ice cream won’t “freeze” in my ice cream maker unless the custard is cold.)

I use my Cuisinart Ice Cream maker to freeze the custard. This appliance doesn’t use rock salt or ice. Rather, a special insulated cylinder “freezes” the mixture. The appliance is old, old but it still just “perks” along. As long as it keeps working; no need to try some other kind of ice cream appliance.

A “beater” incorporates air into the ice cream and prevents crystals from forming. The resulting mixture is smooth, rich and creamy. With this machine, the cylinder turns around and the beater is stationary. (That’s the opposite of traditional ice cream makers.) This ice cream canister is supposed to hold 1-1/2 quarts. However, my custard really overflowed the ice cream maker. So, in the final recipe, I reduced the amount of milk in the final ingredients.

The resulting ice cream custard is very soft. Transfer it to a bowl and let if “ripen” and freeze for several hours in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. However, eat it immediately — if you can’t help.

Ice cream is even better when served with cookies. Look, we just happen to have Girl Scout cookies right now. Thin mint chocolate wafer cookies are the best.

I love my new recipe for “Fantabulous Chocolate Custard Ice Cream.” It is creamy and smooth. Best of all, this custard ice cream has an intense chocolate flavor. Some of the bits of dark chocolate didn’t entirely dissolved — leaving “pops” of chocolate in some of the bites. And, you would never know that I substituted milk for the heavy cream usually found in ice cream recipes. So much healthier. Enjoy!