Oh My Gosh…MMM… this dark chocolate ice cream is the best ever! The taste is unbelievably rich, silky, creamy and taste like a chocolate truffle! The is the best homemade chocolate ice cream I have every had!
And now the bad news: it takes a week to make. I know, I know, why do I have to wait 5 days, I just spend an hour and a half making the custard, is it really necessary to wait that long?!? Let me tell you it is worth the planning and waiting! 🙂 Here is how it breaks down;
Day 1 and 2 – make custard and then chill in fridge for 2 days
End of day 2 – make ice cream
Day 3, 4 and 5 – freeze for 3 days
Let’s get started!!
This is the ST. JOHN DARK CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM recipe – from ‘Beyond Nose to Tail’ by Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly
Ingredients
7 oz. dark chocolate 72 – 74% caca0, finely chopped
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large egg yolks
13 tablespoons caster sugar, divided
1/4 cup heavy cream
Serving size: 1 quart
This recipe took me nearly and hour and a half to finish, not including making the ice cream in the ice cream maker! Take your time, read thru the recipe several times so you don’t make a mistake.
Melt Chocolate, chop chocolate and place into bowl. Then melt the chocolate either in a bowl over a simmering pot of water or in a microwave in 45 second burst but be sure to do this at 50% power. I prefer the microwave, you will need to also stir between heating’s until smooth. The set aside until needed, it will cool slightly.
Heat Milk mixture – Heat the milk and the cocoa in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat, whisk to blend the cocoa into the milk and bring to a boil, remove from heat and set aside.
Mix egg yolks – Using your mixer, whip the egg yolks and 7 tablespoons caster sugar on high until thick, pale color and thick ribbons form. This will take about 3 minutes.
Temper the eggs by whisking constantly and gradually adding the hot milk cocoa mixture until combined.
Combine egg mixture and chocolate – Return this mixture to your saucepan and whisk in the melted chocolate until combined. Place saucepan on low heat until slightly thickened and a thermometer reaches 175°F which should take about 5minutes. Stir constantly to prevent sticking, especially in the corners.
Transfer the chocolate custard to a bowl and place over an ice bath to cool. Stir until custard is cool.
Making the caramel – Now you are ready to make the caramel, bring the remaining 6 tablespoons of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stiring only until the sugar is dissolved. After sugar is dissolved, only occasionally swirl pan, do not stir until a dark amber color forms, about 5 minutes. Now you are ready to add the cream, be careful because the mixture will bubble.
Remove from heat and whisk caramel into the chocolate custard. Then strain into a large container that will be used in the fridge for a couple of days while the mixture infuses all the flavors.
Chocolate mixture in the ice bath ready to be strained. Once strained into another container please in the fridge (not the freezer) for 2 days. It is worth the wait!!
This recipe seems to thicken into ice cream more quicking than other recipes.
After 2 days you are ready to pour the chocolate custard into your ice cream maker to make the ice cream.
Once you have ice cream, transfer it to another container and place in the freezer for 3 days before eating.
Enjoy, it’s delicious and worth the wait!!
Coming soon, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!!
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the scoop looks awesome! beautiful work!
thank you Tex!
Mmm, sounds so good! That would be great in iced coffee! 🙂 Have a great weekend Michael!
It is very good! Have a great weekend Cathy! 🙂
That is what I call dedication, my friend! great job!!!!!
thank you and yes, it is a lot of steps but worth it!!
I’m getting fat reading your blog post Michael—Lord I wish I had some of that right now!!
I know what you mean, you just can’t eat that much at one time! It is very delicious 🙂
This sounds absolutely heavenly! I love dark chocolate, will have to try this soon.
I hope you get a chance to try it, please let me know if you do!!
It sure looks good but one bowl full would probably undo all the walking I did today.
I am sure it would come close but it sure is good!
I’ll have to make it sometime when hubby is away on a multi-day business trip. He’d NEVER be able to wait 5 days to eat chocolate ice cream! lol!
Lindy
that’s a great idea, my wife is the same way! 🙂
Oh yum, love chocolate ice cream and this one is truly dark chocolate. Going to try your recipe.
Hi Suzanne, it is very chocolaty and very delicious! Almost be chocolaty for me so I think next time I am going to cut the chocolate from 7 oz. to 6 oz. Please let me know if you give it a try! 🙂 Have fun today with Patty Nguyen!!
Gorgeous! Looks well worth the time it took to make. You can’t rush the truly fine things of life… Best wishes, WG
good morning Elizabeth! It was well worth the wait, and I agree with you, you just can’t rush the good thing in life! 🙂
Wow, this looks like the richest chocolate ice cream ever! Worth the wait!
thank you Liz!
It sounds and looks fantastic! And it looks worth the wait. If you start it early in the week it would be ready for a weekend treat!
You should give this recipe try Bernice, it is really good. 🙂
🙂
You are a tempter, Michael. That’s what you are. First you show us your amazingly lovely woodwork, then ice cream like this. My goodness, where does it all end…..(big smile)
Thanks, Michael, for another appealing post.
Good morning Cynthia!! lol, have a great week! 🙂
Hi Michael, thanks for sharing. One question I have in mind, what if I don’t have an ice cream maker? Can i still use this recipe? Cheers!
Hi Ana, this recipe requires an ice cream maker, sorry!
Thanks Michael. Will get one then!
Your woodwork, of course, is outstanding and this ice cream looks incredibly good – chocolate is my favorite! I’ll be pinning this too!
thank you Kelli! This recipe is very chocolaty an delicious! 🙂
Gorgeous handles and outstanding ice cream!